Glass 
Book 



HANDBOOKS OF PRACTICAL GARDENING — I 
EDITED BY HARRY ROBERTS 



THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 




STUDY OF GROWTH OF ASPARAGUS SPRENGERI (ONE-THIRD NATURAL SIZE). 



THE BOOK OF 
ASPARAGUS 

WITH SECTIONS ALSO ON CELERY 
SALSIFY SCORZONERA AND SEAK ALE 



CHARLES ILOTT, F.R.H.S. 

LECTURER ON HORTICULTURE TO THE CORNWALL COUNTY COUNCIL 



TOGETHER WITH CHAPTERS ON THE 
HISTORY, DECORATIVE USES AND 
COOKERY OF THESE VEGETABLES 
BY THE EDITOR 



JOHN LANE: THE BODLEY HEAD 
LONDON AND NEW YORK. MCMI 




Printed by Turnbull 6° Spears^ Edinburgh. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Editor's Note . . . . . . . . vii 

The Culture of Asparagus i 

Soil and Site .... i 

Varieties ....... 2 

Seed-Beds ....... 6 

Sowing the Seed . . . . \ . 8 

Positions for Permanent Plantations . . .14 

Soils for Permanent Plantations . . . 15 

Preparation of the Land for Permanent Plantations . 16 
Planting and Manuring . . . . .19 

Cutting ....... 23 

Sowing in Permanent Beds, with a Discussion on Over- 
crowding . . . . 24 

Forcing ....... 26 

Bundling . . . . .31 

Markets ....... 36 

Insects and Diseases . . . . • 37 

Summary ....... 39 

The Asparagus as a Decorative Plant . . . 40 

The History and Cookery of Asparagus . . .50 

The Culture of Seakale . . . . .64 

General Description ..... 64 

Propagation and Culture . . . . .67 

Forcing ....... 72 

Marketing ....... 77 



viii 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

The Culture of Celery . . . . .79 

Sowing the Seed . ..... 79 

Planting and General Treatment . 83 

Insect Pests ...... 90 

The Culture of Celertac . . . . .92 

The Culture of Salsify . . . . 95 

The Culture of Scorzonera . ... .98 

Historic and Culinary ...... 99 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Study of Asparagus Sprengeri (from a drawing by Ethel 

Roskruge) . . . . . . Frontispiece 

Bundles of Asparagus as Prepared for Cooking ... 3 

Plant of Asparagus Officinalis ..... 5 

Roots of One-year-old Asparagus Plant . . . .7 

Roots of Two-year-old Asparagus Plant ... 9 

Roots of Three-year-old Asparagus Plant . .13 

Cornish Spade . . . . . .21 

Asparagus Sprengeri . • . . . . .41 

Asparagus Plumosus . . . . . .43 

Asparagus Tenuisslmus ...... 47 

Seakale ........ 65 

Seakale Root and Cutting . . . . .68 

Celery ........ 80 

Celeriac . . . . . . . • 93 

Bundle of Salsify . . . . . • 95 

Salsify Roots . . . . . . .96 

Bundle of Scorzonera . . . . .98 

ix 



EDITORS NOTE 



This volume is the first of a series of handbooks which 
will deal from a purely practical stand-point with the 
culture of the various fruits, vegetables and flowers 
which are grown or might advantageously be grown in 
English gardens. An attempt will be made by the 
writers of the various books to sift the advice of tradi- 
tion, and only to recommend such treatment as recent 
science has suggested or recent experience confirmed. 
These books will not attempt to compete with the many 
volumes — often very charming and beautiful volumes — 
which have been written on the poetic aspect of gardens 
and gardening. Their aim, on the contrary, will be to 
provide the instruction necessary in order that useful 
and beautiful gardens may be created. To others will 
be left the work of expressing their appreciation of the 
products and pictures thus obtained. 

The authors of the volumes to be issued in the 
series will be selected not so much for any literary 
ability which they may possess as for their practical 
knowledge and especially for their practical experience. 
Mr Charles Ilott, the writer of most of that part of the 
present book which deals with cultivation, has for forty 
years been engaged in the practical study and culture 
of the vegetables on which he now writes. As one of 
Messrs Sutton's experts, he had peculiar opportunity 
of gathering knowledge of certain branches of garden- 
ing, the value of which cannot be over-estimated. 
Recently he has been engaged by the County Council of 
Cornwall in experimenting on a large scale with a view to 

xi 



Xll 



EDITOR'S NOTE 



determining the most suitable crops for extended culture 
in that county and the most suitable methods of culture 
of those crops. His lectures throughout Cornwall have 
already, though he has been but a few years in the 
county, very considerably modified the gardening practice 
both of private and market growers. 

As in the case of the cultural advice, so in that part 
of the book which deals with the preparation of the 
vegetables for the table, only such directions and recipes 
are given as have borne the ordeal of careful experiment. 

The photographs used to illustrate the book have 
been chosen more with a view to explanation of the 
text than as beautiful pictures. In the case of the 
decorative species of asparagus selected as subjects 
for the camera, young specimens have been purposely 
chosen as they show better the peculiar character of 
the foliage than would the more densely packed branches 
of older and more beautiful plants. For the courteous 
loan of blocks showing the appearance of some of the 
vegetables as sent to the market we are indebted to 
Messrs Vilmorin-Andrieux of Paris, perhaps the greatest 
seedsmen of the world, and to Messrs Bunyard of Maid- 
stone, the well-known and excellent growers of fruit, 
roses and vegetables. The editor also takes this oppor- 
tunity of thanking those ever-courteous nurserymen, 
Messrs Kelway, of Langport, for gifts of seeds and 
roots, which will be of help in illustrating future 
volumes in the series. 



THE CULTURE OF ASPARAGUS 

Soil and Site 

Asparagus grows wild in England, notably at Tintagel, 
near Camelford, and at the Lizard, near Kynance Cove, 
where it grows on the almost soilless rocks, the spray of 
the sea frequently washing it. This gives us hints as to 
culture, for it is found to take up its abode in warm 
positions where silicious soils abound, and, although close 
to the sea, it is not found growing in it, but in well 
drained soil on the sloping sides of rocks or cliffs. Yet 
there are probably few plants which respond as does 
this to high culture, although it thrives to a certain 
extent on silicious matter, or on rocks to which it seems 
but desperately to cling ; and under the best culture the 
roots will grow down to a great depth, though only in a 
good rich, sandy soil. I understand that asparagus grows 
wild also in the Fen districts of Lincolnshire, and, indeed, 
one may say that almost anywhere, if only the plants be 
placed in soil of a light, sandy, friable nature, the growth 
is most rapid. 

Many methods are adopted, and many opinions exist 
as to the proper method of growing the best class of 
asparagus, but I have found that all agree upon one 
point, which is that the nature of soil most suitable is 
a good rich, friable, sandy soil, Furthermore, all admit 
that a clay soil is the worst, and of this soil I had some 
years ago much experience. I grew asparagus on a 
strong loam resting on cold and heavy brick clay. I 
had no other soil, and, as asparagus had to be grown, in 
order somewhat to overcome the difficulty, I used all 



THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



kinds of refuse to make the soil workable. I burnt some of 
the stiff soil, and I brought all kinds of leaf soils, burnt 
rubbish, manure, and even old mortar and plaster. 
Then I threw up the beds well above the general level 
and manured heavily on the surface in order to keep the 
roots " up." It was hard up-hill work, as is always the 
case when one is trying to grow plants in unsuitable 
soil. In spite of all my labour, I did not feel satisfied 
with the results. Yet we had fairly good crops, but 
I never depended on beds older than six years for 
asparagus of the finest quality. Nothing of this kind 
need be feared in dealing with suitable soils, for on such 
I have seen beds planted only two years and thought 
they were old established ones. When proper soil can be 
found — soil, that is, of a good sandy nature — it matters 
not at all in which county it be, if only such be naturally 
drained, little fear need be entertained as to results. 
Important it is that care be exercised in selecting our 
soil, but the site is also of the utmost importance, as a 
good sunny position somewhat but gently sloping to the 
south is quite necessary to success in asparagus culture. 
If protection be afforded by screens on the western side, 
or on the side of the site whence the prevailing winds 
sweep, so much the better. The importance of this will 
be seen later. 

Varieties 

There are many so-called varieties, yet they differ 
but little. Messrs Sutton and Sons of Reading have 
two — Perfection and Giant French — which are somewhat 
distinct. They are both excellent kinds, but whether 
they differ from others going by different names I do 
not know, for culture has a great deal to do with the 
appearance of asparagus as of human beings. A variety 
which is sometimes well grown, and sometimes the 
reverse, varies much in appearance, thus favouring the 




BUNDLES OF ASPARAGUS AS PREPARED FOR COOKING 



VARIETIES 



5 



idea of a difference of variety. Two other possibly 
distinct varieties are Argentenil Early Giant and 
Argentenil Late Giant, which latter probably keeps 
longer in the cutting season by furnishing shoots later 
than the first named. Connovers Colossal is another 
good kind, but not superior to those named above. 




Palmetto reached me a few years ago with a startling 
character. It was said to be both earlier and larger 
than any other, but planted side by side with all the 
kinds above mentioned I have not yet found it display 
its alleged virtues. It came from America, and it is 
possible that it went over there first from Europe, pro- 
bably from England, for I find it about as good as many 
others. As to size, it is smaller than Sutton's Giant 
French. The only other variety which I am going to 
mention is one which was sent out by Messrs Bunyard. 
They named it Harwood's Early, and it is noteworthy 
as being alleged to be the earliest to become fit for the 
markets. It certainly has in my experience for three 
years in succession started before the other kinds. 



6 THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



There is, however, as I consider, far more importance 
in soils, sites and general cultivation than in difference 
of variety, and, whereas the cultivation differs materially, 
the varieties do not, in any great measure, differ from 
one another. I take it to be a boon to growers that this 
is so, for if asparagus were afflicted with as many varieties 
as are peas, potatoes and numerous other vegetables, we 
should every year be growing a few as good as, and 
many worse than, those which we now possess ; for if 
the statement of Pliny be true that three sticks of well- 
grown common asparagus weighed a pound even in his 
day, I do not think that we require any further waste of 
labour in endeavouring to produce larger varieties until 
we know how to grow those which we already have. 
What the Romans did they mostly did well, for theirs 
was an age of personal, individual energy. Ours, on the 
other hand, is one of superior scientific knowledge and 
enlightenment. We put our trust in what we know 
rather than in what we do. In this book, as far as I am 
able, I will give the results of my experience of thirty- 
five years with asparagus — having grown it in various 
counties, in various soils, and on various sites. 

SEED-BEDS, AND HOW I MAKE THEM 

A plant benefits no more than does a child in its 
infancy by being starved and neglected. If there is one 
plant more than others that in its early career should 
not be stunted, it is asparagus. 

The best time of the year in which to sow the seed 
is the month of March, and the seed-ground must be 
clean and rich. The latter quality is more easily ob- 
tained than the former, but there should be no careless- 
ness as regards the condition of the land. A good open 
piece should be selected — light and friable, even lighter 
for the seeds than for permanent plantations. 



SEED-BEDS 



7 



The seed does not readily germinate, so that if the 
soil be foul a good crop of weeds will be the result, 
and with these it will not be easy to deal. 

Therefore, in order to secure clean land, prepare the 



I XT 



ROOTS OF ONE-YEAR-OLD ASPARAGUS PLANT - 
QUARTER NATURAL SIZE 



beds early, by well manuring them and by having them 
dug early in the winter, throwing up the soil roughly. 
This will be the means of having it well pulverised by 
frost. On a dry day about the end of February the 
ground can be lightly forked over, but not so deeply 



8 THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



as to disturb the manure which was previously dug in. 
After so doing, leave it for the weeds to germinate, and 
when they appear harrow the ground, or with a large- 
toothed rake disturb the soil a few inches deep, and 
again leave it. In like manner, if possible, allow the 
next crop of weeds to start, and proceed again as before. 
Otherwise, long before the young plants appear, the beds 
will be covered with weeds, as indeed is the case with 
most seed-beds. It is really impossible to be too careful 
at this stage, as precautions taken now will save much 
trouble later on. 

Work the land down so that no clods are buried under- 
neath, though the kind of soil specially adapted for 
asparagus culture will scarcely allow of such. Lumpy 
soil, if treated as suggested, will crumble at the least 
touch, and this is what seeds of all kinds like. In 
March all seeds, if a good day can be secured, should 
be sown in the afternoon. In the morning a rake 
should be roughly passed over all ground intended for 
sowing, and the soil will then on a sunny day be in 
beautiful order in the afternoon for drawing drills. If 
no earth adhere to the boots, it is an indication that the 
soil is in good condition, 

Sowing the Seed 

Whatever seed you may require, get your supply 
from a good source. Avoid cheap seeds of all things. 
I would not wilfully sow a doubtful seed whether 
received from a friend or from a member of the trade. 
I know a little about the seed trade and also something 
of friends. Don't waste a season rather than spend 
an extra shilling on good reliable seeds. I have never 
really grasped the meaning of the word cheap ; it is a 
word which seems to mean that you are getting your 



ROOTS OF TWO-YEAR-OLD ASPARAGUS PLANT ONE QUARTER 

NATURAL SIZE 



SOWING THE SEED 



money's worth and a trifle over, and it often means also 
that you will get what no one else wants. 

Having purchased reliable seeds, draw drills about 
two inches deep and a foot apart. Anyone accustomed 
to sowing onions can do this, but as the seeds are four 
times the size of onion seeds a wider drill might be 
used. Sow thinly, and lend no ear to the people who 
say that you can thin asparagus after it is up. Three 
pounds of seed will sow rows a mile in length. I sowed 
this amount of seed on Easter Monday, three years ago, 
and as a result I raised twenty-five thousand plants, 
which are now strong and fit to produce splendid 
asparagus. A friend of mine, at the same time, used 
the same amount of seed in a length of three hundred 
yards. His plants came up thickly, and well they looked, 
but they never reached a foot in height during the 
first year, whilst mine, topped twenty-six inches. My 
thick-sowing friend would find a great difficulty in 
parting his plants ; the crowns would be weakly, and 
the roots would be so broken in parting that good 
growth would be long postponed. When the seed is 
sown I mix together two parts bone meal, two parts 
kainit, and one part sulphate of ammonia, and sow the 
mixture in the drills at the rate of about one pound to 
ten yards' length of drill, carefully covering it up with a 
rake. I referred to the drills as being much like those 
made for the sowing of onions, but there is this dif- 
ference, that when sowing asparagus the ground must 
not be trodden unduly before or after the sowing. 
Onions are required to bulb well, hence it is necessary 
to "firm" the ground for them, but it is desirable that 
asparagus roots run freely near the surface, and a loose 
soil is by far the best to encourage this habit. The 
plants will not appear quickly whereas the weeds will, 
so that if a mark can be made to show the seed row so 
much the better ; but generally the row can be dis- 



i2 THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



tinguished by the buried manure keeping the ground a 
little moist, so that a dark line is observable, and 
a Dutch hoe can be used between the drills before any 
plants can be seen. When they shoot through the 
ground the young seedlings are very small, so that any 
one unaccustomed to their first appearance would not 
see them. All weeds must from the first be kept away. 
This is a very important matter, as young plants are 
smothered in weeds by a few days' neglect, for of 
course on well-manured lands weeds will grow rapidly 
and vigorously. Indeed, I like to see land on which the 
weeds grow freely, for it speaks well of the richness. 
Weeding and hoeing are the two principal items through- 
out the first season, but if the plants are not growing 
fast a slight sprinkling of nitrate of soda will greatly 
stimulate them. 

Positions for Permanent Plantations 

I have said a word or two in reference to the proper 
sites for asparagus culture. Many suitable places could 
easily be found in almost every county of England 
where with such soil as already described no fears need 
arise as to the ultimate success. 

Every one will admit that in growing asparagus, 
earliness is desirable. Hence it is necessary to obtain 
the warmest spots on which to grow it, preferably a 
spot with a full southern aspect. I alluded to the 
desirability of affording protection from the roughest 
winds for, when the plants are growing up during 
August and September, we are occasionally visited by 
rough gales and the stems are in many cases blown 
down, and sometimes broken off. Where such happens, 
new and premature growths will follow, which of course 
weaken the plants and lessen their next year's yield. 
The French growers put sticks to their plants to prevent 




ROOTS OF THREE-YEAR-OLD ASPARAGUS PLANT ONE QUARTER 

NATURAL SIZE 



PERMANENT PLANTATIONS 



this, but it is rarely that one finds such care in English 
gardens. The southern site, of course, is always the 
warmest, and when well drained in addition nothing 
more can be desired. I know that such positions are 
not always available, but when arranging for extensive 
culture, such places must be sought for. I know in the 
county of Cornwall alone many hundreds of acres with 
this ideal position, and yet such are utilised for ordinary 
farm crops (which, their owners allege, " do not pay "). 

Soils for Permanent Plantations 

I scarcely need again revert to the kind of soil suited 
for the permanent plantation, but as there are several 
methods of laying out the beds and plantations, care must 
be exercised, for an ideal soil is not always at command. 
Where a porous subsoil exists on sloping ground as 
described with a good loam on its surface, nothing better 
need be desired, for such top soil is sure to be of a sandy 
nature and friable, and should this be naturally fertile 
as is usually the case, future success is secure. I spoke 
of asparagus being grown on clay soil in Berkshire and 
of how the roots were drawn to the surface by manuring. 
On such soils this is quite necessary ; but, given a deep 
siiicious soil, the deeper the roots can penetrate the 
better will be the crop of asparagus. 

I remember some years ago the late Mr Shirley 
Hibberd writing in the Gardeners Magazine on the 
depth to which the roots of asparagus would travel if 
allowed. Some buildings were being erected near his 
house, and on a large heap of top soil which was thrown 
up Mr Hibberd was allowed to grow some asparagus. 
He mixed dung with the soil, and the plants grew so 
amazingly that some who saw them could not be con- 
vinced that they were not specimens of some new and 
superior kind of asparagus, and a gentleman actually 



1 6 THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



wanted to purchase the plants at a fancy price. About 
four years from the time that the asparagus was planted, 
the plants were removed. It was then found that their 
roots had travelled to the bottom of the heap, some five or 
six feet in depth. Of course this depth of soil is quite 
unnecessary even if the best results be aimed at, yet it is 
well to know of what the plants are capable. The 
difference in the home of the original plant on the rocks 
and the deep earth of the cultivated one, as just de- 
scribed, shows a wonderful adaptability, and also teaches 
us what can be done by altering conditions, or in other 
words, of what plants are capable when allowed unlimited 
privileges. 



Preparation of the Land for Permanent 
Plantations 

Here again is a matter of the first importance, for 
having decided to grow asparagus, whether on the large 
scale or the small, the same preparation is necessary. 
Having fixed on the site, as much manure as possible 
from stables, pig-sties, or cattle yard should be taken in 
the autumn, and either ploughed, or, better still, dug 
into the ground. This digging should be done as 
deeply as the soil will admit, but in no case should the 
subsoil be brought to the surface, no matter of what 
nature it is. Let the land remain in a rough state, as 
the plough or spade leaves it. As this work is to be of 
a permanent character, be not stingy with the manure, 
for no more will ever again be placed under the surface 
as long as the plantation remains. In the spring or late 
in winter, preferably about the end of February, the land 
should be crossed with a scarifier or a heavy harrow, 
and then left till near the time of planting, which is the 
middle or end of March. It will be advisable about two 
days before the planting takes place again to harrow the 



PERMANENT PLANTATIONS 



ground, so as to get it fine enough for working out the 
drills. 

Beds or Plots. — These are the two principal systems of 
growing, and the choice between them should depend 
on circumstances, not on what others do ; for blind 
copying of neighbours is the cause of much of the 
failure in every branch of gardening. We must study 
our position and work accordingly. Why do so many 
people grow asparagus in beds ? I mean the old orthodox 
beds, of three or four rows in a bed, the rows eighteen 
inches apart, and the plants a foot apart in the rows. 
In many gardens the plants are even closer together than 
this. I confess that I have planted a good many such 
beds. I confess also that I did this often because so 
many other people did likewise. I do not wish to sneer 
at my predecessors, for probably they had reason for 
the course they adopted, whereas I had none. However, 
sometimes one does wake up and become bold enough 
to think for oneself. Such an awakening came to me in 
the matter of asparagus culture, and, as I am going to 
advocate in the following pages one particular style of 
planting, I will first explain my prejudice against the 
system of planting in beds. Some folks will say that 
beds can be easily tended, others will say that it is easy 
to gather the shoots. There is this other alleged ad- 
vantage with the bed system, namely, that you can clean 
out your alleys after manuring the beds, and evenly 
spread the soil over the surface. 

Now all these contentions I consider fallacious, thus, 
no doubt, calling down thunderbolts on my head. The 
greater ease of rendering attention, the facility for 
gathering the crops, the practicability of annually 
cutting out the alley and throwing the soil thus spread 
over the beds, all these things I consider worthy of small 
notice. 

Before we discuss the subject further, the reader should 

B 



1 8 THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



look at the illustrations showing one-year, two-year, and 
three-year-old plants. It at once appears to one's reason 
that the roots shown therein require a very long run, 
and as the principal feeding roots, or the portions which 
take up the most nourishment from the soil, are those at 
the very end, these roots are seen to travel a great 
distance. On the day on which I write, I, with one 
of my assistants, took up the three-year-old plant shown 
in the drawing, and found roots two and a half feet from 
the crown of the plant entangled with its neighbour's 
roots, and I even had to break them off because of the 
entanglement. Why not treat these plants individually 
in the same way as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, or even 
gooseberry trees are treated ? Asparagus roots, if 
properly cared for, will run farther than any of these, 
and we all know what would happen were we to plant 
either of the plants named a foot or eighteen inches from 
crown to crown. 

The French give their plants a space of three to four 
feet a-piece, and wisely so, for we all know that large 
asparagus commands the highest prices in the markets. 
If the soil where the plants are to be placed be wet, it 
must be drained. If it be so low that it cannot be 
drained, it is no earthly use to expect good results, but 
if the ground be wet though not water-logged, have 
each plant raised on a little hillock, and we shall have 
all the advantage of the bed system. Of course it might 
be urged that there would on this method be no alley. 
That is one of its advantages, for when one bears in 
mind that in order to keep an alley defined the plants on 
either side, viz., the outside plants, must have their 
roots annually shaved off with the spade — of all methods 
the most barbarous. I .have practised this savage rite 
myself when, as a pupil, it was my function to execute 
the orders of others rather than to think out practice for 
myself. 



PLANTING AND MANURING 19 



The best asparagus cannot be secured unless ample 
room be allowed for development, and there should 
never be any difficulty in the matter of space in walking 
freely between the plants at any time, without the intro- 
duction of alleys. 

So now for the planting. 

Planting and Manuring 

For planting, none do so well as one-year-old plants ; 
and when people ask me at what age I would recom- 
mend plants to be, I know that they have all to learn. 
The principal reason why one-year-old plants are best, 
is that the roots do not get broken so much at this age 
as when older, and if carefully taken up (and in this 
matter one cannot be too particular) few rootlets need 
be left in the soil. Well-cultivated two-year-old plants 
grown in rich soil would be really very difficult to get 
up without injury. When I hear of three-year-old 
plants being bought, I know that (with the exception 
of those prepared for forcing) they have been badly 
cared for — for a well-grown plant of that age taken up 
by me to-day, shown in the drawing, weighed, after the 
earth had been washed away, two pounds, and some of 
the roots were left broken off in the ground. I would 
rather plant the one-year plant than this older one, 
large as it is, however carefully taken up. 

Taking up the Plants. — It requires two people to take 
up the plants — a man and boy. If the latter be a good 
one he will do better than a man, for his work is care- 
fully to take each plant as the man digs it up with a 
fork — not a spade, to separate the plants if necessary, 
and carefully to put them in a wheelbarrow, or, if they 
have to be taken far, in large flat hampers called ' 6 flats." 
These can be put in carts, and so taken to the planta- 
tions. No more should be taken up than can be planted 



THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



immediately, for generally at the planting season (the 
middle or end of March) the sun and winds are very 
drying, and this is very injurious to the plants, hardy as 
they are. If any plants are still out of the ground when 
night stops the work, they should be covered up with 
mats or bags, and if such mats, etc., be made wet so 
much the better. These little details, though small, are 
by no means superfluous. 

Two or more men should now be getting out the 
drills. I use the phrase "getting out," because they 
should not be "drawn," as is generally done. The 
long-handled Cornish spade is best for this work (see 
Fig. 4). This tool will be new to many; but it is 
admirably adapted for the purpose, for, by walking back- 
wards, a man will easily shovel out the soil to a depth 
of three inches, and the drill will be a foot wide. This 
will allow room for the roots to be well spread out, as 
should be very carefully done. There must in fact be 
no careless work at this stage, as ultimate success or 
otherwise depends on these preliminaries. All available 
hands must be employed for this work of planting, 
because there should be no lingering. The quicker the 
plants are under the soil the better ; but before we begin, 
we must settle the distance to be allowed between the 
plants. As I have said, the more room the plants have the 
larger the asparagus will be. The French know this, and 
give much more room than we do. I have found a very 
good distance between the rows is three feet, one foot 
to eighteen inches being allowed from plant to plant. I 
have also planted in rows three and a half feet apart, 
and the results have reflected the greater space, so that 
what the grower will be guided by is the size of the 
asparagus he wishes to grow and the markets he is 
about to supply. If he allow either of the above dis- 
tances, he will, with good treatment, produce asparagus 
of good quality. A line must be stretched across the 



PLANTING AND MANURING 



ground to get the drill straight. This will require, of 
course, two men, who, with a spade apiece, will take 
out the soil to a uniform depth. The best size is 
twelve inches long and twelve inches at the base, gradu- 
ating as shown in the figure. The advantage of this 
long-handled spade is that the sides of the drills 
are as deep as the middle, which result a hoe will 
not easily accomplish ; but a greater advantage is, 
that after the first drill is taken out and the 
second one commenced, the soil from this 
second will exactly cover up the first, and the 
third will cover up the second, and so on 
till all is finished. I had never seen this 
tool till I came to Cornwall. It is the 
Cornishman's one tool — he uses it as 
spade, a hoe, and a fork (for he takes 
up his potatoes with it). With it he sets 
his broccoli and cabbages, and many other 
things besides ; in fact he scarcely 
wants a tool but this to do every kind 
of work, and a tool-house in a Cornish 
market-garden contains very little 
else. 

Following the men with 
the drills, a man and a boy 
should put the plants in the 
rows. Whether the plants in 
the rows are to be one foot, 
one foot and a half, or two feet apart, they should 
be put at their correct distances, whichever be selected. 
The boy, carrying a basket full of plants, should 
drop a plant at the right place, and the man should 
evenly spread the roots out. Could a reliable boy 
be found to do this, he would be better than a man, 
for the boy can stoop more easily, and so could handle 
the roots better. Either before or after the roots 





CORXI5H SPADZ 



22 



THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



are placed in position, a good sprinkling of manure 
should be put in the drills. Some growers advocate 
about six hundredweight of guano to the acre ; 
others would mix equal parts of bone-meal, kainit, 
and superphosphate, quite two months before re- 
quired, occasionally mixing and well turning, using 
about ten hundredweight to the acre. I know some 
people who are able to give such minutely definite 
instruction as to the application of manures that novices 
think their advice unquestionable, but after many years' 
experience of cultural experiments I must confess that 
I have not yet arrived at this infallible stage. Soils, 
previous cultures, and other causes upset calculations, and 
I am inclined to think that unless a chemical analysis of the 
soils be made no very definite instruction as to quantities 
of nitrogen, phosphates, potash, or lime can be given. 

The planting having been finished, the drills finished 
off with a rake, the principal work throughout the summer 
will consist in strenuously keeping all weeds under, for 
these will grow freely, and, as the land has been well man- 
ured with dung and a good supply of artificials, stronger 
weeds will be in evidence than where the land is poor. 
Neglect will cause the plants to be heavily handicapped 
at this stage, for the roots are but just starting afresh 
after removal, and will not be benefitted by running a 
race with vigorous weeds for food. When the time 
comes to cut the plants down in the autumn no weeds 
should be found, yet I have seen nettles and almost 
every other kind of weed at this time of year developed 
into abnormal specimens, robust, and of gigantic growth. 
Nothing can show less common sense than having gone 
through all the work, and to all the expense of preparing 
the ground and planting the roots, to finish the season 
with a large crop of weeds. It is customary in the 
autumn to apply a large quantity of the best dung avail- 
able, to dig it in and to throw earth over the whole, thus 



CUTTING 



2 3 



making the plants unnaturally deep. I would advise that 
this work be done late in January, a mulch being applied 
and just a little earth thrown over the manure to rot it. 
Where it can be obtained, stable manure or sea weed, well 
mixed with sand, is good for the plants, and if fish manure 
and night soil can be had so much the better. Every 
alternate year this mixture might be applied, and in the fol- 
lowing year in November eight hundredweight of kainit. 
Early in March add six hundredweight of superphosphate, 
in May one and a half hundredweight of nitrate of soda, 
and in July one and a half hundredweight of nitrate 
of soda. Guano for a change instead of either of these 
annual dressings can be substituted at the rate of twelve 
hundredweight per acre, for asparagus seems to like any 
manures, and salt also can be put on with advantage at 
the rate of twelve to fifteen hundredweight per acre, 
but this is not so necessary when kainit is used, as this 
contains a large quantity of salt. This system of alterna- 
tion will be better for the plants than the old way of 
putting on a heavy dressing of dung in the winter or 
autumn without any change from year to year. 

Cutting 

About the middle of February, a few inches of the sur- 
rounding soil should be thrown up over the crowns or 
plants, and for this purpose a top dressing of sand is helpful 
to add with the soil for earthing, as, when the gathering 
commences, the little hill over each crown can be drawn 
down, and instead of an asparagus knife being used the 
shoots can be broken off by the fingers. If a knife be 
used, I prefer an old pruning knife to the well-known 
asparagus knife. Take the top of the shoot carefully 
between your thumb and fore-finger, then with the knife 
in the other hand push it perpendicularly into the soil 
alongside the shoot which you are about to cut, then 



24 THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



with a slight twist of the wrist sever the shoot as low 
as possible, and in so doing do not allow the knife to go 
too far, or young shoots near will be destroyed. A good 
many shoots just starting are often killed in this way. 

There is much difference of opinion as to the length 
of " green" a shoot should possess, but none should be 
reckoned as first-class if the heads are loose. They 
should all be compact, and with a mauve or purple tint. 
Some varieties are a little darker than others, but, when 
well grown and robust, with heads compact and of the 
tint described, asparagus commands the best price. 
Eight inches is a good length. The first year that the 
plants produce a crop do not cut severely, but allow a few 
of the smaller shoots to grow up, and do not continue the 
cuttings so late as can be safely done with older plants. 
In the first year do not cut after the end of May — with 
older plantations I give orders on no account to cut after 
the fifteenth of June. Some people are never willing to 
forego cutting as long as good stems appear, but such 
are deservedly foredoomed to have inferior crops in after 
years. No other plant will tolerate the continual cut- 
ting which asparagus bears. Even horse-radish would 
object, and I know that thistles and docks cannot survive 
such persistent decapitation. Yet asparagus bears three 
months of continuous guillotining without apparent injury, 
and, though every shoot be cut off from the early spring 
till the middle of June, will recoup itself for the next 
year's onslaught. 

Sowing in Permanent Beds, with a Discussion 
on Over-Crowding 

There is yet another plan for starting asparagus 
culture which nearly every writer mentions, though 
few advocate. This is the process of sowing the seed 
where the plants are to remain. Good results might 



PERMANENT BEDS 



follow this practice, but for one reason or another they 
scarcely ever do. For one thing, most people try to 
snatch a crop of some kind while the asparagus is 
growing, thus treating the latter more as a secondary 
crop. As a result, the plants are stunted and the crop 
generally hindered. A writer in a recent issue of a 
prominent agricultural journal said that " the objection 
to using plants is that they suffer in being transplanted." 
I never yet found plants to suffer by the process if 
ordinary care be observed. 

To the French, who plant their asparagus at such a 
great distance apart, the seed bed as a permanency would 
be out of the question, and is not entertained by them. 
Personally, I ignore this seed bed plan altogether. The 
writer whom I have just quoted also says that the 
plants used should be. one year old. With this I quite 
agree. Later on he says, " The most convenient size 
for beds is three rows wide, with the rows nine inches 
apart and one foot from plant to plant and any length 
that may be desired. The beds may be planted either 
by seeding or by planting one-year-old plants in the 
manner before directed, but three rows together instead 
of one" (this refers to field culture for which in a 
previous chapter he gives a distance of three and a 
half feet from row to row, and nine inches from 
plant to plant). When I read this, I wondered where 
would be my one-year-old plants if only allowed 
a distance of nine inches from row to row and a 
foot from plant to plant. They would touch each 
other at the commencement if the roots were properly 
spread out. Of course no worthy results could be 
obtained' under such conditions. I know that a good 
many people simply plant with no definite views. Such 
a case came under my notice not more than a year ago. 
A gardener had planted a good many hundreds of plants 
in a fairly good position, but the work had evidently 



26 THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



been hurriedly done, for I found fringes of roots in 
straight lines which had never been covered up, for 
instead of being convex or flat the drill was concave. 
I remarked that he had been planting asparagus. 
" Yes," said the gardener, "we have got it in; but 
how did you know since the plants are not up ? " I 
explained that he had not covered up the roots because 
the drills were not wide enough. " Oh," he said, "they 
will grow all right, but I know you are so particular." 
" Yes," I said, " they will not die, for it is a pity that 
asparagus will stand much careless treatment." Other- 
wise, perhaps asparagus culture would turn out more 
satisfactorily, for though the plant is accommodating, it 
is only careful gardening which yields really good 
results. This impresses itself on me when I see nearly 
every way but the best generally dealt out to it. I 
think it would pay all intending growers to visit 
France and see French methods and results. There are 
certainly some good English growers, but there are ten 
indifferent ones to one quite first-rate. This is not a 
pleasant truth to write or to read. 

Forcing 

I am sure that all will admit the time allotted for 
cutting asparagus out of doors to be much too short to 
satisfy lovers of this vegetable. Therefore the art of 
prolonging the season — doubling the season I might say 
— must be a great item in its culture. I will here give 
several methods by which this can be done. Early 
asparagus is considered a great luxury, and very early 
produce fetches a high price, but there are many means 
of producing it in large quantities, which means I will 
here describe. 

Forcing is a branch of culture which is much neglected. 
It is well known that asparagus cutting in the open 



FORCING 



27 



should be allowed to proceed for about ten weeks only. 
From Christmas to March is a time of great scarcity of 
choice vegetables, and hence forced asparagus always 
command a ready sale and good prices, but even so the 
supply generally runs short of the demand. Yet there 
certainly should be no lack of supply, because asparagus 
is the easiest and most reliable plant to force of any I 
know. There is one most important matter to remember 
if this is to be done really well, which is that the plants 
must be well prepared for the work. I have forced 
all kinds, or rather plants of all ages, from twenty years 
old to two, but if the best results are obtained such 
plants as that shown in the illustration of a three-year- 
old plant should be used for the purpose. This plant 
was sown three years ago, taken up and planted in 
a row twelve inches from row to row and eight 
inches apart in the rows. Of course not a stem has 
been cut, except the ripened shoots in the autumn. 
Indeed, this is the secret of producing the best quality. 
Old beds can be forced, but the produce is unequal 
— a few good shoots, a great many small. I have seen 
well prepared young plants produce by the end of 
November by gentle forcing, asparagus as large as is 
sometimes found on old beds at their best in April ; but 
to prepare plants I would advise very liberal treatment. 
Plants certainly can be, and are well grown in less space 
than I have mentioned, but the greater the space the 
better the results. Well do I remember making a gentle- 
hot-bed principally of oak leaves, and then bending rods 
over the beds, covering up with mats and old hop bags 
cut ope,n. Such plants as I have described were taken up 
early in February, and placed on about four inches of 
light soil, and simply packed closely together, so that the 
crowns were only a few inches apart. They were then 
covered with soil three inches deep, the mats and bags 
being tightly fastened down over all. A gentle heat of 



28 THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



about 65 deg. was thus maintained for several weeks. 
About three weeks from the time that the plants were 
put in, a host of buds were visible, and then the bags 
and mats on the sunny side were thrown back to the 
north side for several hours a day, when not too cold. 
I never saw such a uniform lot of shoots, scarcelv a small 
one being among the lot ; in fact, I never had or saw 
forced asparagus equal to them. Certainly the spring 
was mild, and the work was comparatively easy in con- 
sequence ; but the means of success employed were well 
prepared three year old plants, and the steady heat which 
fermenting leaves always afford if properly stacked 
when collected. Had I plenty of oak leaves, asparagus 
forcing would be a very simple matter, for, although I 
have used hot water pipes for forcing, I never had such 
good results as by using leaves. I had equal success 
with seakale, both of these plants, in my opinion, being 
of better quality, especially as to flavour, when forced 
in this way than when other means are used. I have 
also, when a large heap of leaves has been collected, 
made the top of the heap flat, and taken two light 
frames and put over the surface. Then, with a few 
inches of light soil, plants such as before mentioned 
were thickly placed, the lights put on, and a trial 
stick thrust in the centre about a foot or a little more 
into the leaves. Every morning the stick was pulled 
out and the heat tested, as can be easily done if when 
pulled out with one hand the other grasps the stick. By 
the touch the heat is approximately judged. A very 
gentle heat is always best, asparagus being easily spoiled 
if a strong bottom heat be given. I have no doubt but 
that spent tan would also answer well, as this gives a 
steady and prolonged gentle heat. A mistake is often 
made if stable manure is used, but of course if a large 
quantity be required hot water pipes would be prefer- 
able to any other method. A flow and return should be 



FORCING 



29 



arranged under the beds, with the same running round 
the pits or house, and a very steady heat maintained, 
at first allowing only such heat as might be engendered 
by a little sunshine. 

Time should be given for this work, for hasty forcing 
means weakly growths, and weakly growths mean a 
poor result. One of the best places to force asparagus 
slowly and well is in the tomato-house, and I know a good 
many market growers who have from three to twelve 
houses, each about ninety feet long, half unused during 
part of every year. Such houses are generally span- 
roofed, with beds on either side, and a walk, of course, 
through the centre. Some houses have borders about 
three feet wide, the pipes in some cases going round 
the houses, though in others running on either side of 
the walk. Here there is no bottom heat, and none is 
really required. Were these borders filled with well- 
prepared three-year-old asparagus plants, I question if 
anything would pay the grower better. Yet many people 
scarcely know what to put in their houses after the 
tomatoes are over, to occupy them till the houses are 
again required in the spring. To force asparagus thus 
is so simple that any novice when once instructed could 
do the work, as it is unlike any other crop with which I 
am acquainted. Nearly all market gardeners grow much 
the same things, hence gluts. Thus there is in the 
autumn a glut of chrysanthemums, all growers more or 
less complaining about the prices ; and now that every 
one is growing narcissi and daffodils the same com- 
plaint is anticipated ; but I think that to supply all our 
markets with forced asparagus till they become glutted 
is a consummation of the distant future. There is one 
great advantage possessed by asparagus, in that a valu- 
able quantity can be packed and sent off in small boxes 
and hampers, the freightage being little in proportion to 
its value. This makes a considerable difference as com- 



THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



pared with other crops of a more bulky kind. The 
greatest drawback is the time it takes to prepare the 
plants for this work ; but when once well started on a 
large scale, the work is simple, and the results will 
justify the time and expense incurred. 

To sum up, then, the principal points to observe in 
forcing asparagus. 

Three-year-old plants, well grown, as shown in the 
illustration, should be used. Such plants should be taken 
up and placed in a very gentle heat, especially at the com- 
mencement, whether in frames resting on leaves or spent 
tan, or in pits of any length with the means of affording 
a little warmth, or in cucumber, melon, or tomato- 
house, when such crops are over. No new soil need be 
added, the plants merely requiring to be covered a few 
inches deep, and when necessary lightly watered with 
tepid water, or with water about ten degrees warmer 
than the temperature of the house, pit, or frame. In 
any case do not use cold water, for although the plants 
will not admit of strong forcing they always respond to 
warm water. 

I must here say that when such means as I have ad- 
vised be employed to force asparagus, the plants are of 
very little further use ; in fact they do not pay to nurse 
for subsequent work. There is, however, another way 
of forcing, which consists, not in bringing the plants to 
the heat, but in bringing the heat to the plants. There 
are two notable places where this is done, one being 
His Majesty's garden at Frogmore, the other being Zion 
House Gardens. 

In the former the beds are* made somewhat after the 
style of ordinary out-door beds, but are bricked up at 
the sides, after the style of the old fashioned melon and 
cucumber pits. The spaces between, as nearly as I 
remember, measure from three to four feet, half the 
depth being filled with soil, and the top half provided 



BUNDLING 



with flow and return pipes for hot water. There are 
four or five such beds, and a boiler heats the lot. 
Frames with sashes are placed on these beds. I con- 
sider this an excellent plan for gently bringing the crops 
forward probably some two months before the outside 
crops come in. These pits, for such they really are, 
enable us to follow up our earliest forced produce, thus 
providing that no break occur for at least seven months 
in the year, which is a long enough season for anyone. 

No doubt there are other means whereby asparagus 
can be forced; and anyone who undertakes this work 
should use the best and cheapest means, according to 
his materials. The point to bear in mind is that the 
future crop is in the crowns, and that if these be 
well developed by previous good culture,, plants can 
really be crowded in the forcing bed, the roots requiring 
only a little soil and water at times. The future crop is 
in the crowns, just as the future bunch of grapes is in a 
well-matured bud, or the fine spike of lily of the valley 
in its plump bud. The real preparation is in providing 
for the development during the previous year. This 
point, I fear, is not always kept in view. Yet that it is 
recognised by some is shown by the splendidly finished 
asparagus which one sees at Covent Garden and other 
great markets. 

Bundling 

For the first few years, plants even crowded in rich 
land will give very fine asparagus, but this will not last 
for long, for the reason that the roots become entangled, 
and live by robbing from each other. I have known 
some people so ignorant of this matter, that when cutting 
the stems down in the autumn they select all berried 
branches and place them evenly over the beds in order 
to secure a quantity of young plants to grow up between 



3-2 THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



the older ones. I need not say how wrong this is. No 
asparagus should be cut till the plants are three years 
old, and it is better to wait even a year longer than this. 
In Cornwall, under such treatment as I have advised, 
good asparagus can be cut when the plants are three 
years old. Still, I advocate for most counties another 
season's growth. I know that some people consider that 
the ground during this waiting period, should produce 
early potatoes or kidney beans, but nothing of the kind 
should be allowed. I said that when the manure has 
been put under, no more can be applied till the plants 
have run their race. This shows how absurd is the 
6 ' snatching" of crops, which is advocated by some 
writers to satisfy their parsimonious clients. 

Really, the plants will speak for themselves as to 
their fitness for cutting. If, after the second year of 
planting the shoots are half an inch in diameter, we may 
take it as an indication that all has gone well and that 
the plants are strong enough to cut from. 

In two cases where my instructions were carried out, 
after the first season's growth, the plants attained the 
height of four and a half feet, and in the following 
spring, shoots three-quarters of an inch in diameter 
appeared, so that one of the growers cut liberally for 
several weeks but did not continue after the first of 
June. When I visited him in September of last year the 
plants had grown to a height of eight and a half feet, so 
that the cutting did not seem to have injured them. 

As to the number of years that asparagus plants will 
live no limit can be fixed. I saw once some beds in a 
grand old garden in Devonshire which had a history 
of at least ninety years, and in Cornwall I know a bed, 
the proprietor of which is probably forty years of age, 
this bed having been planted by his father before the 
present owner was born, and yet it still produces 
splendid shoots which I have often exhibited to my 



BUNDLING 



33 



audiences when lecturing. Indeed, having once pre- 
pared the ground and planted the stock, so little further 
attention is required that in these days of scarce and 
expensive labour I would rather be the possessor of an 
acre of asparagus than an acre of any other crop. 

In the latest number of the " Royal Agricultural 
Society's Journal" (Vol. xi., part 4) is an article on 
asparagus by Mr John Norfolk of Wilburton, in which 
he says that " the time that cutting will commence must, 
of course, depend upon the season. About the middle of 
April would be the average time, though in some seasons 
there would hardly be any through before the beginning of 
May. It should begin as soon as any heads are one and 
a half or two inches above the surface, cutting all, both 
large and small with a proper asparagus knife — a saw- 
edged one — as this kind of knife does not injure other 
crowns (shoots) as a sharp one would. The knife 
has a saw-edged blade about four inches long with a 
handle twelve to fifteen inches. The way to use it is to 
pass the blade down close by the head intended to be 
cut until the crown of the root is felt, then by a dex- 
terous twist sideways detach the stem from the root 
(or crown). An experienced man should be employed 
to do this work, as a number of shoots are always rising 
at the same time in different stages from the same spot, 
and a careless cutter might destroy a great many. It is 
most important to keep the cutting well in hand. No 
hard and fast rule can be laid down about it, beyond that 
it must be done at the proper time. Two inches above 
ground is quite enough of growth, as if longer the plants 
begin to run and spoil their appearance in a few hours." 
I presume that Mr Norfolk means by this that the head 
would open and the compactness be spoilt. He goes on 
to say that as asparagus grows in length, the heads lose 
their plumpness and get thinner. It is only those who 
are accustomed to seeing asparagus growing who can 

c 



THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



realise the rapidity of its growth in hot weather when a 
whole cutting might run away in a day or two. At this 
period, therefore, it is important to put this work of 
cutting into the hands of practical and trustworthy 
men. Two inches above ground with six inches below 
(which will easily be obtained if the roots have been 
earthed up as directed) will be a good average market 
length. Mr Bunyard would by a recent pamphlet reverse 
Mr Norfolk's advice, as he would allow the stems to 
grow six inches or more out of the soil and cut level with 
the ground. I wish this could become the fashion. It 
would, I am sure, be better for the plants. 

" The man who is cutting should pick up the heads as 
he cuts them, keeping them with the tops all one 
way till he gets a handful. He should then lay them 
down upon the bed, and thus proceed until the whole 
breadth is gone over. Another man should follow him 
with a basket and gather up all the heads, being careful 
to keep them straight. They should then be washed 
and tied ready for market. Women will do this work as 
well as and more cheaply than men. There should be a 
shed or building near by with a good supply of water. 
The best method of washing asparagus is to put a 
quantity at a time into a tub with plenty of water and 
give it a good swilling about — this will usually clean it. 
Take it out, place it on a table, and having sorted it in 
sizes, all the small is to be tied by itself, and the best — 
which should be about the thickness of a man's little 
finger — should be tied in bundles of six scores each. 
The bundles may be tied with willow withes, or with 
good raffia. But whatever is used must be strong 
enough to bind safely. The bundles must be made fiat, 
not round. 

They should be about seven inches wide and four 
inches through, larger or smaller, according to the size 
of the asparagus. The old method of tying was, first, 



BUNDLING 



35 



to tie six small bundles of a score each, then to lay two 
of these bundles side by side with tying material under 
them, to put two others on the top, and one on each 
side, and then to bring the tying material round and 
fasten. 

But the newer, and quicker way is to tie the whole 
bundle at once. To do this two pieces of board 
should be fixed edgeways upon the table to hold the 
asparagus in position, in order that the tie may be placed 
under it. These boards (or the frame as I call it) must 
have a cut down to the table in which to lay the tying 
material. Two ties are necessary, as otherwise the 
bundle would not be made flat as desired. A small one 
should first be laid down the middle of the board or frame 
lengthwise as the asparagus lies. Then place across and 
in the cuts before mentioned the willow which is to go 
round the bundle. The smaller willow, running the 
same way as the asparagus, should now be bent and its 
two ends brought upwards to form a loop below the 
tying willow. The six score must now be counted and 
laid straight and neatly in the frame, placing half the 
number on either side of the two ends of the willow 
running longways. Now bring the tying willow round 
between the two ends of the other willow, draw tightly 
and fasten, still keeping the bundle in the frame, then 
take the two ends, press the bundle flat, and tie them 
round the top willows, thus holding the two sides of 
the bundle together and keeping it flat. Fairly good 
asparagus eight inches long should weigh three to four 
pounds a bundle, being an average size for market. 

After the bundles are tied they should have a good 
swill through clean water before being packed. The 
best baskets to pack in are common bushel flats with 
lids, and these hold eight to ten bundles each. The 
asparagus should be placed with the butts to the end 
of the baskets, and the crowns towards each other 



36 THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



in the middle. The flats would be large enough to 
take two bundles in length, with a little long grass 
between to prevent the heads from being broken." 

These remarks of Mr Norfolk's are quoted to show 
the practices generally adopted. In a great measure I 
agree with the advice, but I can scarcely understand 
first-rate asparagus being the " size of a man's little 
finger." Then in the matter of washing, I feel sure it 
would be better not to follow the treatment suggested. 
Asparagus, like washed potatoes, looks well for the hour 
after being washed, but a little earth or dust on the 
stems does not detract from but rather improves the ap- 
pearance. All vegetables washed long before the cook 
requires them are somewhat spoiled. Personally, I do 
not cut the ends off, not using the saw knife. 

Markets 

When lecturing I am asked about marketing produce 
of all kinds more than about anything else. To many it 
is one of the most important matters, especially to those 
who grow first-class produce to catch and not lose the 
markets. To all growers of vegetables for sale I com- 
mend a paper called the Fruit Grower, Fruiterer, Florist, 
and Market Gardener, in which every week is published 
a list of the best buyers or salesmen. 

And it is important to study suitable markets, for I 
have seen excellent produce which would be well re- 
ceived in Covent Garden go begging where quality was 
not appreciated, and cheapness was the only recommenda- 
tion. I was told the other day by a grower that at 
Christmas he could only get three shillings a bushel for 
sound, well-coloured Blenheim orange apples, there 
being so many foreign ones for sale. I showed him a 
copy of the paper referred to, and he will in future sell 
to more advantage outside his own county. A district 



INSECTS AND DISEASES 



manufacturing cloth will send cloth all over the world. 
In like manner the horticulturist should send his produce 
to places where it is wanted and appreciated. 

Such points should be better understood and acted 
upon. The question of markets should be less of an 
enigma. Another important point is, wherever the 
climate favours such things as asparagus, there should 
be grown the earliest available supply. Did every 
county in England avail itself of its capability according 
to respective resources, much of the foreign produce 
now imported would not be needed. 

Insects and Diseases 

Few plants escape disease as does properly grown 
asparagus, and probably what disease it is sometimes 
subject to is traceable to unnatural treatment. Deep 
and heavy earthings-up I consider to be a frequent 
reason that plants become unhealthy with a kind of rust. 
I am told that some years ago asparagus was extensively 
cultivated in the Penzance district until a disease of this 
sort visited the plants. Few growers now continue its 
cultivation, but I am growing it successfully there, 
though I do not intend earthing up eight to ten inches 
or more, as I am told was the custom. 

The greatest pest to the crop of which I know is the 
asparagus beetle {Crioceris Asparagi). When this pest visits 
the plants it does a good deal of injury, eating the rind or 
outer portion of the stems, and quite stripping the plants. 
It is not an easy foe to deal with, but I have used the 
following means, and when I have followed it up several 
times, have succeeded. Paraffin and soap makes one of 
the best as also the easiest of insecticides, and larger or 
smaller quantities of either ingredient might be safely 
used if properly made, which means properly churned. 
A good mixture for this plant can be made with five 



38 THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



pounds of soft soap to three quarts of paraffin, adding 
water to make sixty gallons of material for syringing. 
The soap must be boiled till well dissolved in two gal- 
lons of water, then in another vessel put three quarts of 
paraffin and pour the soap water on it. With a whisk, 
made of a handful of small sticks, well stir rapidly for 
ten minutes, when it will be mixed. Some advise the 
syringe to be used for this purpose, but I have never been 
able to do this, as it becomes too hot to handle properly. 
If I wish to use this at once, I add the water to make the 
sixty gallons. If syringed over the diseased plants at a 
temperature of eighty degrees, it will be more effectual 
than when cold. 

There are many similar washes. The Board of Agri- 
culture, 4 Whitehall Place, London, issues leaflets free, 
bearing on this and other obnoxious insects. 

Paris green and lime forms another mixture, but this is 
a poison, whereas the former kills by contact. If this be 
used, however, take of Paris green one pound, lime one 
pound, and one hundred and sixty gallons of water. The 
lime must be carefully slaked before mixing, so that 
every particle of it is well and thoroughly powdered 
before mixing with the water, or the syringe will 
become clogged. The reason that lime is necessary is 
that Paris green is insoluble, and will quickly settle, but 
the lime somewhat prevents this. The Paris green is a 
very fine green heavy powder, and when coming in con- 
tact with the lime in the water mixes somewhat with it. 
Still it must be continually stirred when using, or it will 
settle at the bottom of the vessel. 

I have also used dry wood ashes and sawdust mixed 
well together with paraffin at the rate of two bushels 
of ashes, one bushel of sawdust, and one gallon of 
paraffin. When the plants are wet, sow over them 
this mixture, repeat several times, and, if it adheres, this 
beetle will disappear. 



SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT POINTS 39 



Summary of some Important Points 

1. If you decide to raise asparagus from seed, go to a 
reliable seedsman. Poor seeds mean a season (or even 
more) wasted. 

2. Sow on rich, clean land of a light loamy nature. 
Sow thinly. Keep free from weeds. 

3. Plant in March in good, wide trenches. Use one- 
year-old plants for making permanent plantations. Do 
not let the sun or the wind have even a look at the 
roots. 

4. Make no attempt to snatch a crop of potatoes, or 
even of saladings, from a young asparagus plantation. 

5. Place stakes so that the growing stems may not be 
blown down and the plants be thereby weakened. 

6. Manure freely as directed. 

7. Do not earth-up unduly, but strictly follow the 
directions given in this book. 

8. Select well-drained land facing south, when this is 
available. 



THE ASPARAGUS 
AS A DECORATIVE PLANT 



The English kitchen-garden during the months of 
summer contains many objects of great beauty — gourds, 
climbing beans, globe artichokes, and the rest — but 
nothing more graceful than the feathery growths of the 
edible asparagus. Indeed, this useful plant is fully as 
handsome to the eye as it is delicious to the taste, and 
few pot plants look brighter and more attractive at 
Christmas than young bushes of the common asparagus 
obtained from seed sown when ripe in the autumn and 
" brought on" in a warm greenhouse. 

But there are many other species of this genus which 
are well worth growing for their beautiful foliage and 
habits. Mr Baker's " Monograph of Asparagaceae," con- 
tained in the fourteenth volume of the " Journal of the 
Linnean Society," gives a total of ninety-seven species, 
but only a few of these have yet become at all well 
known in England. Most of them are somewhat tender 
and can only be grown in this country under glass, but 
a few are hardy. In his "A Gloucestershire Garden" 
Canon Ellacombe says that he grows Asparagus acuti- 
folius in the open, though apparently against a protecting 
wall. This is an evergreen climber, with short, hard, 
bristly leaflets, growing to a height of four or five feet. 
It is to be seen growing wild and in abundance along 
the rocky shores of the Mediterranean. Canon Ellacombe 
also grows in the open the beautiful and vigorous 
A. verticillata, a deciduous species, and the well-known 
40 




ASPARAGUS PLUMOSUS 



AS A DECORATIVE PLANT 



(as a greenhouse plant) A. medeoloides. This has long 
been grown in England, and is described in Mawe's 
"Universal Gardener" as well as in Hanbury's "Com- 
plete Body of Planting." Both these authors advise 
that it be removed to a warm greenhouse in the autumn 
in order that it may be in perfection at Christmas time. 
Hanbury, in particular, gives a good and interesting 
description of the plant : — 

"The Myrtle-leaved Climbing African Asparagus 
admits of two principal varieties called the Broad-leaved 
and the Narrow-leaved. The root of the Broad-leaved 
is composed of several oblong, fleshy knobs, which 
unite at the top. The stalks are weak, climbing, divide 
into numerous branches, and will rise, if supported, to 
the height of about five feet. The leaves are pinnated 
and single ; the folioles are oval, spear-shaped, pointed, 
sessile, of a dark but glossy green colour on their upper 
side, but paler underneath, and are placed alternately 
along the midrib. The flowers come out from the sides 
of the branches on short foot-stalks ; they are of a dull 
white colour, appear in October, and are often succeeded 
by ripe heart-shaped seeds in the spring. The Narrow- 
leaved sort differs from the other inasmuch as the stalks 
are smaller and less branching. The leaves are long, 
narrow, and of a greyish colour. The flowers are of a 
greenish-white colour, but are produced like the former ; 
they appear about the same time, and the seeds ripen 
accordingly. The stalks of both these kinds die to the 
ground every summer, but fresh ones spring up in the 
autumn, and continue growing and exhibiting their 
flowers all winter." 

Among other kinds which are hardy in warm, light 
soils is the very beautiful A. brousseroneti. 

One of the first of the greenhouse asparaguses to be 
introduced into England was A. retrofractus, which was 
brought from the Cape in 1759; ^ ut > ow i n g to the fact 



46 THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



that it rarely if ever flowers here, and can be increased 
only by the slow process of layering, it never became 
a very popular plant. About 1890 an attempt was made 
by M. Lemoine to popularize it and met with some 
success, for since then it has been more commonly 
grown than ever previously. It likes sunlight but not 
too much heat, and it also likes plenty of pot-room. 
If kept in small pots, however, pretty little plants for 
table decoration may be obtained. Grown liberally, 
A. retrofrdctus is a tall woody species, with thin leaves 
upwards of two inches in length, produced in tufts from 
the branches. The crooked stems are usually covered 
with a grey powder, which gives a characteristic 
appearance to the plant. Another species long since 
introduced from the Cape is A. scandens, which climbs 
to a height of ten or more feet, the whole plant being 
a dense mass of rich green foliage. The curved leaves 
a little resemble those of A* Sprengeri in texture, but, 
being arranged in one plane, give somewhat the appear- 
ance of a coarse variety of A. plumosus. A. scandens is 
increased by division, rarely ripening seeds in England 
— hence its comparative rarity. This cause, however, 
does not explain the reason that A. deflexus is not more 
grown, for it seeds abundantly, and is also easily 
increased by division of its underground rhizome, which 
spreads at a great rate. It is a tall vigorous plant, 
with wiry stems and bright green leaves. A. umbel- 
latus from Madeira is also a beautiful climber worthy 
of more general cultivation. 

The three species which are by far the most frequently 
grown in our rooms and greenhouses are A. sprengeri 
A. p/umosus, and A. te?iuissimus. It was only ten years 
ago that Herr Sprenger, who collected for Messrs 
Dammon & Company of Naples, introduced the first- 
named of these species from Natal. It has become 
thoroughly popular — and deservedly so — as a room 




ASPARAGUS TENUISSIMUS 



AS A DECORATIVE PLANT 



plant, and as a plant for the cool greenhouse and for 
the stove — for it possesses beauty of foliage, flower 
and fruit, is easily multiplied by seed or division, 
and, provided it has rich loamy soil, ample pot-room, 
and plenty of water, is a rapid and vigorous grower, 
making growths of six feet or even longer. The 
flowers, which are borne in abundance under favour- 
able conditions, are white and possessed of a pleasant 
fragrance. The Royal Horticultural Society gave an 
Award of Merit to the variety Compact a in 1 898. 

Asparagus plumosus and A. tenuis simus somewhat re- 
semble one another in the light and fragile character 
of their stems and foliage, and also in the treatment 
suitable for their growth and health. Both may be 
readily multiplied either by seeds or by cuttings. To 
effect the latter, take off the young side shoots close 
to the old stem to a butt of about four inches, from 
April to June, and place in light soil in a close propa- 
gating case. Both A. tenuis simus and A, plumosus may 
be kept for some time as dwarf compact pot plants 
by cramping their roots in a small space, but given 
room they both produce long shoots and develop in- 
dividual character. In A, plumosus cristatus each branch- 
let ends in a divided crest after the style of the crested 
ferns. All the species of asparagus like abundance of 
light, and although, like the garden A. officinalis, they 
are mostly long-suffering, they yet well repay generous 
and careful treatment. 



D 



HISTORY AND COOKERY 



In the "Gentleman's Magazine" for January, 1793, 1S 
a review of a book entitled "The Benefit of Starving; 
or, the Advantages of Hunger, Cold, and Nakedness ; 
intended as a Cordial for the Poor, and an Apology for 
the Rich." When one realises how little use we make 
of our opportunities, he can but fancy that every one 
has taken this book to heart and decided to live up to 
its title. Otherwise it is hard to conceive why it is that 
so easily cultivated a vegetable as asparagus is still an 
expensive luxury ; or why it is that such simply grown 
delicacies as salsify and scorzonera are still so little 
known in England. In the course of a very amusing 
article, James Payn once pointed out how delightful it 
would be, when called on by folks whom we did not 
wish to know, to return them this by post : " Mr 
So-and-So's compliments, but he knows a great deal too 
many people already;" and this is the sentiment which 
most people seem to feel towards vegetables and fruits 
which were not given to them in their childhood. 

Asparagus, however, is no novelty, being, indeed, 
one of the oldest of cultivated vegetables. Cato the 
elder discussed the culture of asparagus at length, and 
Pliny referred to it as worthy of the gardener's tenderest 
care. In his eleventh Satire, Juvenal speaks of it as 
one of the dishes for his feast : " Montani Asparagi, 
posito quos legit villica fuso." This, of course, refers 
to wild asparagus, probably the same species as that 
which we now cultivate, and which is still found wild 
at certain spots on the coast of Wales, Cornwall, Dorset, 
and the Channel Isles- — most notably on Asparagus 
50 



HISTORY AND COOKERY 51 

Island, near the Lizard Point. It is even said to be 
commonly found in the Elysian fields. For many hun- 
dred years, however, it is as " cultivated asparagus" 
alone that the plant has been seriously related to culinary 
art; and Meager, writing about 1680, says that even 
then abundance of forced asparagus was to be obtained 
at the Central London Market. Gerard and Parkinson 
have each something to say of the vegetable, and Evelyn, 
in his " Acetaria," reports the high opinion which his 
contemporaries had of it : " Next to flesh, nothing is so 
nourishing as asparagus." This, unfortunately, is not a 
verdict which we can support in these days of physio- 
logical and chemical research. As showing the com- 
position of two vegetables typical of those dealt with 
in this book, the following table (after Konig) may be 
of interest : — 





Celery. 


Asparagus. 


Water .... 


84*09 


93*3 2 


Nitrogenous matters 


1-48 


1-98 


Fat .... 


0.39 


0.28 


Sugar .... 


077 


0-40 


Other non-nitrogeneous 




extractions 


II-03 


2 -34 


Cellulose 


1-40 


1-14 


Ash .... 


0-8 4 


o-54 


Constituents of 


the Ash 




Potash .... 


43-19 


3 I<0 3 


Soda .... 




n-59 


Lime .... 


r 


10-48 


Magnesia 


5-82 


4 - 9 o 


Iron oxide 


i- 4 i 


2-99 


Phosphoric acid 


12-83 


20-12 


Sulphuric acid 


5'58 


6-26 


Silica .... 


3-85 


6-6o 


Chlorine 


15-87 





52 THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 

It is not, however, because of their nourishing value that 
these vegetables are so important, but because of their 
mineral salts and agreeable flavours, the value of which 
cannot be over-estimated on physical as on aesthetic 
grounds. Moreover, in a cooked state, celery, asparagus, 
seakale, scorzonera, and salsify are all extremely easy and 
quick of digestion, even though they do not possess quite 
so many virtues as some old writers have thought, from 
Anthony Mizold, who, thirteen hundred years ago recom- 
mended asparagus as a certain cure for toothache, down 
to quite recent editions of the British Pharmacopeia. 

Of the plants just named, the asparagus makes the 
strongest appeal to our sense of the beautiful. This is 
what we should expect from its botanical relationship, 
for it belongs to the order of beautiful plants known as 
Liliaceae, to which belong also our lilies, scillas, tulips, 
and fritillaries. The garden asparagus {A. officinalis) is, 
as everyone knows, a herbaceous plant with tiny scaly 
leaves, from the axils of which proceed bunches of little 
needles usually and erroneously spoken of as leaves. 
It bears small bell-shaped flowers containing honey. 
These flowers are uni-sexual, male and female flowers 
occurring on different plants. The male flowers, how- 
ever, contain a rudimentary pistil, and the female flowers 
rudimentary stamens. The honey, which is secreted at 
the base of the petals, is accessible to bees ; for whose 
benefit, also, the pleasant scent of the asparagus flowers 
is produced. 

Seakale, celery, and salsify, like asparagus, occur 
wild in England ; and seakale has never until lately 
succeeded in extending its popularity as a vegetable 
much beyond these isles. Scorzonera is the only one 
of the plants under discussion which is never found wild 
in this country. It is a Spanish plant belonging, like 
salsify, to the order Composite, and resembling salsify 
much in its habit, size, and flavour, but differing in the 



HISTORY AND COOKERY 



colour of its root, which is dark brown. It is, compared 
with salsify, a new vegetable to cultivation, for, whilst 
the latter seems to have grown in ancient Greece, and 
was referred to by Olivier de Serres in the sixteenth 
century, scorzonera does not appear to have been grown 
in gardens for much longer than a century. Celery is 
another vegetable with a history, for it is mentioned by 
Homer, and even as a cultivated vegetable by so ancient 
a writer as Pliny. It is one of those vegetables which is 
but half used, for, although popular, it is served in 
England usually in but one or two ways, whereas it 
lends itself to the utmost variety according to the art 
and ingenuity of the cook. 

" Gross are they who see in eating and drinking 
nought but grossness. Gluttony is a vice only when it 
leads to stupid inartistic excess." So writes Mrs 
Pennell in her delightful "Feasts of Autolycus," a 
book known and treasured by everyone who appreciates 
"fine" eating and tasteful menus. The importance of 
the subjects of food, cookery and digestion, has always 
been recognised, as is illustrated by such proverbs as : 
"A good cook keeps out the physician," "Better 
dinners, better tempers," " Wisdom proceedeth neither 
from him who is hungry nor from him who is full," 
" Diplomacy lieth under the dish cover," and the like. 
Indeed, there is much wisdom in the saying of Brillat- 
Savarin that "of all the bodily functions, digestion is that 
which has most influence on the morale of the individual 
— his feelings and mental condition." 

Once, no doubt, man had such difficulty in obtaining 
from nature the flesh and fruits needed to ward off 
starvation, that when a stroke of luck brought him deer 
or other beast he settled down to feast to utter repletion, 
knowing not when such a meal might again come his 
way. Many people seem to cling to this old tradition 
even now, and our big dinners and banquets — though 



54 THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



more sensible than formerly — still are composed of such 
quantities of foods and such numbers of courses as to 
make artistic feeding an impracticability. A tasteful 
frugality rather than a wasteful, tasteless and ridiculous 
excess is the aim of those with any claim to the title of 
artists in practical life. Instead of eating, as the Duchess 
of Orleans, writing in 1 718, said she had often seen the 
king eat, " four plates of different kinds of soups, a 
whole pheasant, a partridge, a dish of salad, two thick 
slices of ham, mutton flavoured with garlic, a plateful of 
pastry, and finish his repast with fruit and hard boiled 
eggs," a man of taste will select from one to three 
dishes, and on the proper preparation of them will cause 
to be expended the energy and intelligence which would 
in the alternative have provided the ponderous and ill- 
composed meal of the inartistic. 

But in the arrangement of meals and the cookery of 
food things move slowly, and writer after writer has 
copied his predecessors, with only such rare exceptions 
as that great original cook La Varenne, who wrote in 
1653, and perhaps a dozen others who have studied 
things for themselves. Thanks to America, thanks to 
France, and thanks also to certain reforming spirits in 
England, we are at last on the way to a revolution 
in dietetics. Meat is losing its all-pervading power, and 
the value — even the sufficiency — of a vegetable diet is 
becoming a matter of common belief. The vegetables 
with which we are now concerned are not among those 
which can in any sense replace meat as an article of food, 
but their importance both from a hygienic point of view 
and also from the standpoint of pleasure in eating cannot 
be over-estimated. 

In a very interesting little book called " A Treatise 
of all Sorts of Foods, both Animal and Vegetable : also 
of Drinkables," " written originally in French by the 
learned M. L. Lemery, Physician to the King," published 



HISTORY AND COOKERY 



in an English translation in 1745? lt 1S amusing to read 
that " the essential Salt which is contain'd in Sparagrass 
in a sufficient Quantity, is very proper to penetrate into 
all the Recesses of the Parts, there to dissolve the 
glutinous and embarrassing Substances they meet with, 
and to make a passage into all the Pipes, by breaking 
and removing the Obstacles that are in their Way. 
Sparagrass in Latin is called Asparagus ab aspergendo, 
sprinkling, because 'tis convenient to water them." We 
don't, of course, accept all that as gospel nowadays, but 
without exaggeration it may be affirmed that there is 
much real hygienic virtue in asparagus, and also in the 
other vegetables we are now considering. 

The directions given for the cooking of asparagus 
have not varied much for many hundred years. Thus 
in " L'Ecole des Ragouts, ou Le Chef-D'CEuvre du 
Cuisinier, du Patissier, et du Confiturier," of which the 
thirteenth edition was published at Bordeaux in 1695, 
the following directions for boiling and serving asparagus 
are given : — " Pour bien faire cuire des asperges entieres, 
mettez-les dans de l'eau boiiillante avec un peu du sel, 
et quand elles seront attendries moderement, il les faut 
retourner, et ayant tire le chauderon hors du feu, laissez- 
les refroidir a demi, puis les tirez hors de l'eau, et les 
faites egouter, les couvrant d'un linge blanc, puis on les 
mettra dans la sausse suivante. 

"Mettez un plat sur un bon feu avec ce qu'il faudra 
de vinaigre, et du sel, et un bon morceau de beurre ; 
vous y pouvez ajouter un peu de poivre, il faut tourner 
le beurre jusqu'a ce qu'il soit fondu, afin que la sausse 
soit liee : Puis on y mettra les asperges, vous pouvez y 
raper de la muscade par dessus : Un peu de grosse chap- 
lure de pain est bonne dans cette sausse, et meme du jus 
d'eclanche, ou d'autre viande rotie. Au lieu de faire 
cette sausse, on se contente de manger les asperges avec 
de l'huile, du sel, et du vinaigre comme une salade." 



56 THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



In a very amusing book titled " Les Dons de Comus," 
of which a " Nouvelle Edition*' was published in 1758, 
numerous recipes are given for the cooking and dressing 
of asparagus : Asperges au beurre, Asperges a l'huile, 
Asperges au jus, etc. The directions given for asperges 
au jus are these : — " Etant cuites et dressees, vous servez 
dessus un peu de blond de veau, dans lequel vous aurez 
mis un peu de beurre manie." 

Where most of the old writers and cooks failed was 
in fixing too short a time for the adequate cooking of 
the stems — this being inevitable when the old plan of 
immersing the asparagus entire in boiling water was fol- 
lowed. Thus " La Cuisiniere Bourgeoise," published 
about 1750, name's " un demi-quart-d'heure " as the 
correct time, and even Gourfe directs the cook to boil 
for ten minutes only. 

As the result of numerous experiments, the following 
simple directions are offered as conveying the principles 
to be observed in cooking asparagus entire to be served 
as an entremet : — 

Having carefully scraped and washed it, take the 
asparagus, and resting it loosely heads downwards on a 
table tie it in a bundle of twelve to twenty-four sticks 
with tape and cut level the base of the stems. In this 
way the sticks will be all of the same length, and will all 
be cooked at the same time. Set the bundle thus formed 
upright in a saucepan containing enough boiling salted 
water (quarter ounce to one quart, with or without a 
tablespoonful of vinegar) to cover about two-thirds of 
the height of the asparagus, the tender tips so com- 
monly spoilt by over boiling being thus cooked by steam 
alone, whilst the tougher stems are properly cooked in 
the boiling water. An appliance for the proper cooking 
of asparagus has been designed by a member of the 
Cornish Craft Guild, Hayle, and may be obtained at the 
price of two shillings. The time of cooking varies slightly 



HISTORY AND COOKERY 



according to the freshness (asparagus should be cooked on 
the same day that it was growing in the garden) and variety 
of the asparagus, but as a rule the time may be taken at 
from thirty to forty minutes, the cover of the saucepan 
being left off during the whole time. When cooked, the 
stems should be tender, but not flabby. Mrs Glasse, in 
her celebrated " Art of Cookery," advised to "cut the 
round of a small loaf about half an inch thick, toast it 
brown on both sides, dip it in the asparagus liquor, and lay 
it in your dish; pour a little butter over the. toast, then 
lay your asparagus on the toast all round the dish, with 
the white tops outward," and her advice has been copied 
by nearly every cookery writer — English and American 
— since her day. Much the nicer way, however, of serv- 
ing boiled asparagus is to drain it thoroughly, remove 
the tape or riband, and place the vegetable .on the drainer 
of a hot asparagus dish or ordinary vegetable dish, on dry 
unbuttered toast, or, as Gouffe suggests, on a napkin. 

Dr Kitchener, in his "Cook's Oracle," did indeed 
advise that one should " pour no butter over them, but 
send some up in a boat, or white sauce." Better than 
white sauce or melted butter as an accompaniment to 
boiled asparagus is sauce Hollandaise, or (as Mrs 
Roundell suggests in her excellent "Practical Cookery 
Book") the beurre fondu of the Dutch. This is made by 
melting four ounces of butter in a saucepan, adding a 
saltspoonful of salt, a pinch of mignonette pepper and a 
squeeze of lemon juice. Let this settle over the fire, 
and before the butter has quite liquefied, take the sauce- 
pan off, and let the heat of the saucepan complete the 
melting. In this way the butter will be creamy, and not 
like oil. Pour the sauce free from sediment into a very 
hot sauce-boat, and see that the plates for the vegetables 
are thoroughly hot. 

Sauce Hollandaise may be made thus : — Put in a bain- 
marie two and a half ounces of butter and beat it to a 



58 THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



cream. Add a large saltspoonful of salt, a small pinch 
of mignonette pepper, three tablespoonfuls of vinegar, 
and a tablespoonful of hot water. Place on the fire, 
carefully avoiding the boiling point, and stir with a 
wooden spoon until the mixture becomes a thick cream. 
Then remove and serve. 

To be cooked entire as a separate and distinct dish 
will usually be the fate of asparagus in the kitchen of 
the epicure, but there are many delightful combinations 
into which " the queen of vegetables," as Soyer called 
it, need suffer no loss of dignity in entering. Eggs 
especially seem fitted to take share in these partnerships. 
The possibilities are infinite, the following being but a 
selection of two or three most simple and satisfactory. 

Eggs and Asparagus served on Toast 

Boil a bundle of twenty to thirty heads of asparagus, 
and, having well drained it, cut it into small pieces about 
a quarter or a half of an inch in length. In a stewpan 
mix three well-beaten eggs with an ounce of butter and 
a little pepper and salt. Do not let this mixture boil, 
but heat it sufficiently to thicken the eggs. Stir in the 
asparagus, and in about one minute spread the mixture 
on rounds of buttered toast. A little cream may be 
added to the mixture, and bread fried in butter may be 
used instead of buttered toast. 

Asparagus 'with Hard-Boiled Eggs 

A sufficiency of asparagus having been boiled as 
directed, it is to be laid on a hot dish or napkin and 
surrounded by hard-boiled eggs bisected lengthways, 
and placed flat sides upwards. This pretty dish requires 
no sauce, though melted butter may be used with it. 
It is, however, best suited to be eaten with well buttered 
bread or with cold toast buttered. 



HISTORY AND COOKERY 



Baked Asparagus with Eggs 

Boil a bundle of twenty to thirty heads of asparagus, 
and, having well drained it, cut it into small pieces about 
a quarter or a half of an inch in length. Put the asparagus 
with an ounce and a half of butter and a little pepper 
and salt into a stewpan. Heat the mixture and pour it 
into a buttered baking dish. Beat six eggs and mix 
them with a little salt and pepper and an ounce of 
butter, stirring in also an ounce and a half of cream or 
rich milk. Pour this mixture over the asparagus in the 
baking dish, and place in the oven until the eggs are 
cooked. A much simpler way, though one by no means 
so satisfactory, is to place the cooked asparagus into a 
buttered baking dish, break the eggs on top, and cook 
until the eggs are set. Mrs Marion Harland, in her 
"Common Sense in the Household," published in New 
York in 1 885, strongly recommends a dish which she 
calls " Asparagus in Ambush," but this is simply the 
"Asparagus forced in French Rolls" of Mrs Glasse 
and her numerous copiers (one finds her recipe reported 
almost verbatim in Henderson's " Housekeeper's In- 
structor" and the other popular cookery books of the 
same period), which, though a pleasant enough dish, 
represents an act of sacrilege against so subtle a thing 
as asparagus. It consists in cutting off the tops and 
scraping out the crumb from some stale rolls, setting 
them in the oven till crisp, filling them with the follow- 
ing mixture, replacing the top, and setting again in the 
oven for three minutes, the rolls to be eaten whilst hot. 
The mixture is made by boiling a pint of milk and 
beating into it four whipped eggs, stirring over the fire 
till it thickens, when should be added a great spoonful 
of butter, a little pepper and salt, and the tender tops of 
fifty heads of asparagus, cooked and minced. Directly 



6o THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



the asparagus is added, take the pan from the fire and 
fill the rolls with the mixture. 

Mrs Roundell quotes an interesting recipe for 

Asparagus a la Chateau-roux 

Boil some asparagus in the manner advised, dry it 
carefully, keep it hot, and pour over it a sauce made of 
one ounce of butter thickened with the yolks of two 
eggs well beaten, a squeeze of lemon, and a little pepper 
and salt. Be careful not to use any of the whites of the 
eggs, and heat the sauce in the bain-marie. 

From Italy we obtain two recipes of some value, one, 
of course, being for 

Asparagus with Cheese 

In England we use cheese too infrequently in com- 
bination with vegetable products, but those familiar with 
baked potatoes and cheese, boiled rice and cheese, 
oatmeal and cheese, and similar dishes, will always 
approach any such new combination with interest. Boil 
a bundle of asparagus, place it in a fire-proof china dish, 
sprinkle with a little pepper and salt, and place on it 
two ounces of butter. Heat carefully over the fire for 
ten minutes, and, sprinkling with a thick layer of rather 
dry Cheshire or Cheddar cheese (the Italians and un- 
patriotic English use Parmesan), heat for two minutes 
longer and serve in the pan used for cooking it. 

Another 

Italian Way of Cooking Asparagus 

quoted by Mrs de Salis, in one of her excellent little 
books, consists in taking some asparagus, breaking it 



HISTORY AND COOKERY 61 



into pieces, boiling them and draining off the water. 
Take a little oil, water, and vinegar, let it boil, season 
it with pepper and salt, throw in the asparagus, and 
thicken with the white of eggs. 

Sweet Asparagus Stew 

A nice way to utilise thin asparagus is to remove the 
white parts from a bunch and divide the green tops into 
inch lengths. Throw them into a stew-pan of boiling 
water and boil for ten minutes. Pour off the water, 
leaving about a quarter of a pint, add an ounce of 
butter, a teaspoonful of sugar, and a little pepper and 
salt. Cover the pan, and stew for twenty minutes. 
Then thicken with the yolk of an egg and a little cream, 
and serve on toast. 

A much tastier dish is that given by Gouffe under the 
heading 

Asparagus Peas 

a very similar dish to the " Asperges aux petits pois" 
of the old "Cuisiniere Bourgeoise." Slightly modified, 
the directions are these : — Take some green asparagus 
tops and break them into pieces about a quarter of 
an inch in length. Boil them in water till cooked, 
then drain them on a cloth and put them in a frying 
pan with — for each pint of asparagus tops — two ounces 
of butter, a teaspoonful of pounded sugar, and a little 
salt. Then thicken with the yolk of an egg, an 
ounce of butter, and a tablespoonful of cream. Toss 
over the fire till the butter is melted, and serve in a 
hot dish. 

The following is as satisfactory a recipe as any for 
making 



62 THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS 



Asparagus Soup 

Take a bundle of about twenty heads, cut off to 
a length of half an inch the green tops of half of 
them and put them aside. Place in a large stew-pan a 
quart of milk and water or stock, an ounce of butter, 
a finely divided lettuce, a little salt and pepper, two or 
three moderate sized onions sliced, a strip of celery, a 
bunch of herbs, and the asparagus. Boil for an hour 
and then strain. Pound the residue and rub it with a 
wooden spoon through a hair sieve. Mix together this 
pulp and the strained liquor, adding half a pint of cream, 
the yolks of two or three eggs, and a few drops of 
tarragon vinegar. Stir over the fire till it thickens, but 
do not let the mixture boil. The asparagus tips, having 
been boiled separately for about five or ten minutes, 
are to be added to the soup when it is poured into the 
tureen. 

These are but a few of the many ways in which 
asparagus may be used to tickle the palate of the 
sensuous, but the wise will beware of too elaborate 
combinations in which the character of the vegetable 
will certainly be lost, as it must inevitably have been in 
that composite stew described by Dickens as produced 
at the Jolly Sandboys. There is, however, one other 
culinary use of asparagus which we dare not pass over, 
namely, its use as a constituent of salads. Sir Henry 
Thomson has said that " cold boiled asparagus served 
with a mayonnaise forms a dish of its kind not to be 
surpassed." Soyer said that sauces are to cookery what 
grammar is to language, but even mayonnaise is as often 
mangled as made. Yet its making is simplicity itself : — 
Beat in a soup-plate the yolk of one egg, adding drop by 
drop one tablespoonful of salad oil. Then add another 
tablespoonful of oil and mix well, after which another 
may be added. Incorporate gradually a small teaspoonful 



HISTORY AND COOKERY 63 



of vinegar or lemon juice, a few drops of tarragon 
vinegar, a very little cayenne and half a teaspoonful of 
salt. Immediately before using the mayonnaise, add 
half a teacupful of cream whipped very stiff. 

Instead of mayonnaise, however, plain French dressing 
may be used with cold boiled asparagus with equal or 
even finer effect. In mixing a French dressing one must 
carefully avoid the errors which Sydney Smith was so 
proud of making, that he tried to render them immortal 
in verse. We shall scarcely copy him in adding anchovy 
sauce to our dressing, but we may easily be led to follow 
his proportions — which are far from good ones. The 
correct method is as follows : Take a large bowl — not 
the one in which the salad will be served — and mix 
thoroughly half a teaspoonful of salt, half that quantity 
of pepper, and three tablespoonfuls of oil — adding the 
latter gradually. Slowly stir in one tabl-espoonful of 
vinegar — with or without a little tarragon vinegar. 
Place the well-dried cold asparagus, cut into half-inch 
lengths, in this mixture, and thoroughly shake it until 
it becomes uniformly saturated with the dressing. Lift 
it and place it in the salad-bowl, throwing away the 
liquid which remains in the mixing basin. It cannot be 
too often said that salads should always be mixed 
immediately before being served. 

Mrs de Salis advises that the salad be sprinkled over 
with grated ham, or with tiny strips of smoked sausage, 
but these are, it is hoped, not additions which will appeal 
to many. 



CULTURE OF SEAKALE 



General Description 

Seakale is a perennial in the truest sense of the word, 
for when once established it is very difficult to exter- 
minate. Every little piece of root will form a plant, and 
being thus so hardy it in some cases becomes a nuisance 
in the garden. Reproduction can be effected either by 
division of the roots or by seeds ; though I have always 
found the former process the more satisfactory, and this 
method is simple and easy. 

In digging up a seakale plant to force, if it be properly 
removed, long white roots or thongs will appear, re- 
sembling thongs of leather. If you examine these roots, 
you will find those from seed more thonglike, and the 
older the plant from whence these roots spring the more 
woody are they. Again, if grown in a wet soil of a clayey 
nature, on cutting them a blackish mark or inky vein 
will be noticed. In seed plants, if young, this is not 
found ; so for propagation I prefer such to plants raised 
from cuttings. I will give you my experience of seed 
raising first. 

There is no doubt but that plants can be raised 
in two years from seeds. As with all other crops, 
we must start with a clean soil free from weeds. If 
this is to be a permanent site, we should select land 
where convolvulus, ground ivy, couch, and other per- 
sistent weeds are not, for it will be almost impossible 
to exterminate such when the plants are established. 
64 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION 65 



Sow the seed thinly in drills of fine earth, about an inch 
or more deep. The distance allowed for each plant will 
vary according to our plans for the future of the bed, 
but it will be safe to name eighteen inches ; for, if the 
bed be made a permanent one, every other row can be 
cleared away later, and the plants left double the space 




SEAKALE 

apart if wanted to force under pots (a process now 
almost obsolete). Any plants not required can be taken 
up in the following autumn, and planted at a distance 
of one foot from one another, in rows eighteen inches 
apart. * Break off any thongs from these young plants, 
so as the stem of the seedling plant is say six inches long. 
Cover up as many of these roots or thongs as are as 

E 



66 CULTURE OF SEAKALE 



large as a good-sized cedar pencil under soil of any 
kind. In times past I have planted seedlings closer than 
I recommend, and I have had reason to reproach myself 
for so doing, for the seakale makes such rapid growth, 
and produces such large stout leaves, that it is necessary 
to give ample room for development from the start. 

The old gardeners, I remember, used to place their 
plants in a triangular position about nine inches apart, 
three plants to form a clump, with the natural result 
that each helped to 6 6 beggar its neighbour." One has 
but to watch the plants as they develop in order to 
realise how matters stood under that treatment. The 
crowding of the small side buds causes the production 
of small leaves, and wherever small leaves are there are 
weak buds under. According to the strength of the 
leaf, so usually is the bud at the axil of the leaf. 

We have two distinct varieties of seakale : the old 
one, known for ages, and the lily white, introduced 
probably about twenty years ago. I think the old kind 
the stouter grower, and when well balanced perhaps 
the best, the principal point against it being that if the 
tips are once allowed to start with a purple tint, no 
forcing or keeping in the dark will obliterate it, which 
is against it when brought to table. On the other hand 
lily white has no colour whatever, so that if in starting 
the growth commences in the light, the colour is not 
materially impaired, yet all good-flavoured kale must be 
grown in the dark. 

It would appear that these two maritime plants, aspar- 
agus and seakale, are not so easily persuaded to alter 
their primitive and unique identity as are so many other 
members of the vegetable kingdom. I cannot say if this 
be why they are not better understood. That they are 
so little understood and appreciated is more the fault of 
the people than the plants, for few plants respond to 
good treatment as do these. Seakale is so extremely 



PROPAGATION AND CULTURE 67 



hardy, and the means of propagating it are so simple, 
that there really is no reason why it should not be more 
generally grown. 

Propagation and Culture 

There are two ways of propagating it — one by seed, 
the other by root cuttings. As the seedlings make good 
material for root propagation, I will deal with them 
first. 

March is a good time for sowing. As a good pre- 
paration of the land is necessary, I will assume that 
a piece of ground has been selected ; the stronger and 
richer the soil the better will be the results. The soil 
having been manured well with dung early in the winter, 
well dug, and left in a rough state to pulverise, at any 
time in March the seed may be sown in drills about two 
inches deep. The distance from row to row will de- 
pend upon ultimate requirements ; if for permanent beds 
eighteen inches apart will be an excellent distance, for 
then every other row can be removed, and the per- 
manent plants in the rows can be left about two feet 
apart. This is for ultimate forcing on the beds — a 
matter which will claim attention later on. 

When these seedlings have made a few leaves they can 
be transplanted thickly in rows, say a foot apart, and nine 
inches from plant to plant, and so left till the autumn or 
winter. If these plants are not required for any other 
purpose they will make excellent material to furnish 
cuttings, which is the general plan selected for propaga- 
tion, as I find that the younger the plants the better and 
healthier the roots appear to be for this purpose. Yet for 
permanent beds, where plenty of roots can be had, I never 
advocate seedlings, for really none can surpass a plant 
grown from a piece of healthy root on well prepared 



68 CULTURE OF SEAKALE 



ground. For my own use I would prefer a piece of 
healthy root of the size and double the length of one's 
little finger to the best seedling ever grown for a per- 




a a 



SEAKALE ROOT AND CUTTING 

manent plantation. It matters little, however, whether 
the plants from which we take our cuttings be seedlings 
or plants taken up to force or sell. In either case well 
prepare the ground as for the seedlings, and cut off, or 



PROPAGATION AND CULTURE 69 



rather break off, the roots from the plant (see Fig. I), 
leaving only its trunk, the parts marked a. a. a. a. 
being the pieces for the fresh supply. Such are about 
five to six inches long, though pieces of even four inches 
make good plants. Cut the top level and the bottom 
in a slanting direction (see Fig. 2). This will guide the 
planter as to which end must be put in the ground, for 
I have often found a difficulty in distinguishing the top 
from the bottom. 

Early in March, work the ground down, so that all 
clods are broken. If well pulverised by frosts so much 
the better, and the stiffer the land the better does it work 
down after frosts. The plants should be so grown 
during their first season that no older plants could be 
better for forcing in the following winter. The rows 
should be eighteen inches apart, and the sets twelve to 
fifteen inches apart in the rows on well manured and 
deeply dug land. Let a line be put down in order to 
have the rows straight. Put the cuttings in a shallow 
basket, take a short blunt dibbler, make a hole one inch 
deeper than the cutting is long, twist the dibbler round 
before it leaves the hole, so that the soil does not fill it 
up, and put the cutting in, so that it touches the bottom. 
A boy following a man can do this well, and it is far 
better and quicker work for two to do this than one, as 
there is no stopping to pick out the cutting, and if the 
earth crumbles, as probably it will, the cutting can fol- 
low the dibbler before the earth is allowed to fill up the 
hole. If the top be only half an inch under the surface 
it will suffice. After all is done a short-toothed rake can 
be put over the rows, and nothing more will be required 
than frequent use of the hoe to keep all weeds well 
under, and one small dressing of nitrate of soda, one 
pound to the square pole, with a dressing of salt as soon 
as the plants begin to grow freely. I am much inclined 
to discontinue salt, as is so usual, and apply before the 



7° 



CULTURE OF SEAKALE 



planting time about five pounds of kainit per pole. 
There is a good deal of salt in this mineral, and it has 
the advantage over salt that it contains at least fourteen 
per cent, of potash. I have in many cases used the latter, 
as I am sure that the value of salt is over-estimated 
for many things. By salt I mean, of course, chloride of 
sodium. I have never yet found it as effectual as I was 
taught it is, and I do not care to hand down commentless 
an old tradition without proof of its efficacy. The 
proved value of seaweed has been brought forward as 
an instance of such, but one great use of this is its mulch- 
ing quality, keeping the ground moist in very dry weather. 
The manurial value is very little compared with its bulk. 
Still I like it as a mulch, for it undoubtedly checks 
evaporation. 

The finest seakale I ever saw was grown from such 
cuttings as I have described, planted in a stiff loam rest- 
ing on brick clay, but the land had been treated in the 
following way. An old meadow was broken up and 
half trenched by taking out a trench two feet deep and 
two feet wide. The top soil was thrown in the first 
trench, and on it was placed a large quantity of dung ; 
the under soil was broken a foot deep and left in its 
position, dung being put on the top of it followed by 
the top soil. Thus, the land was left as follows when 
finished — top soil on the top, dung between this and the 
broken subsoil. The land really was broken two feet 
deep, with dung sandwiched one foot from top and 
bottom. On this I grew in just a year from planting 
stems larger than an ordinary cucumber. I had probably 
one thousand plants, and I put over each crown in 
February old meat tins, six-inch flower pots with clay 
over the holes, in fact anything I could get, each cover- 
ing being well screwed down into the soil to exclude 
light. I had several dozens of six-inch drain pipes, and 
for one-year-old crowns I would wish for nothing better. 



PROPAGATION AND CULTURE 71 



This bed looked a motley picture when I had used every 
available article to cover up my thousand plants. 
The reason that I did not cover any crowns with earth, 
sand, or ashes was that the soil was much too stiff to 
use, and ashes are objectionable, as they get into the 
base of the stems and are difficult to get out, whilst of 
sand I had none. Over all these makeshift appliances 
I put a good covering of strawy litter after filling up 
between with leaves. This was the opposite of forcing ; 
it was retarding, and when the kale came on and was fit 
to cut, I do not remember ever seeing better, as but 
few weighed less than half a pound each, and many were 
a good deal heavier. The kale was about nine inches 
long and .as white as possible. 

Now, had I bought the best plants ever sent out, I 
should not have surpassed this bed and its results. I 
find many who, when they put in good, strong plants, 
have them in flower in June when they are in a measure 
spoiled. I advise anyone planting such to put a six-inch 
flower pot over each crown, screw the pot into the earth 
or firmly on it, then put a piece of good clay over the 
hole, when each plant will produce a fairly good stem 
which can be cut with at least half an inch of the crown, 
though this will not be as large as that which I have 
above described. If this be not done, do not allow the 
plants to flower, but cut off the crowns early, and then 
others will be formed during the season. 

I now come to the autumn when the bed of cuttings 
has done its work. Should a permanent plantation be 
required for out of doors forcing, every other row 
could be dug up together with every alternate plant in the 
rows which will be left, thus giving three feet from row 
to row, and two to two-and-a-half feet from plant to 
plant in the row. When these plants are taken up, 
carefully remove all roots, for any pieces left in the 
ground will grow, and this is most undesirable. The 



72 CULTURE OF SEAKALE 



plants taken up can be treated as follows : break off all 
roots close to the stems and put under some earth for 
cuttings. On a wet or frosty day when out of doors' 
work is at a standstill these can be cut out into lengths 
for next season's planting. The plants thus taken up 
can be forced, or if not wanted at the time of taking up, 
they, like the roots broken off, should be stored away 
in soil, packed closely together crown uppermost, so 
that when a quantity is required for forcing or sending 
away they are ready to hand. 



Forcing 

There are innumerable ways of forcing, in fact, so 
long as a dark place can be secured with a temperature 
of fifty to sixty degrees, all requirements will be met. 
The roots can be packed in light soil closely together, 
leaving just enough room for the kale to grow up, the 
crowns being just under or even level with the soil. 
On this I like to put a good covering of wheat straw or 
dry sweet leaves — but before doing this the plants should 
receive a gentle watering to settle the soil and to give 
the necessary moisture. Should the conditions be not 
dark enough, a frame should be fitted over so that the 
plants will be as in a box with the lid on. A very 
gentle heat is sufficient, at first fifty degrees being 
the maximum, rising to sixty-five which is the highest 
permissible if good stout kale is required. This should 
not be longer than eight to ten inches, for should it be 
allowed to grow longer, it would be well on the road to 
ruin. Such kale cooks badly, indeed, the shorter the 
kale the better does it cook — personally I prefer it to be 
about six inches in length. Cooks are often blamed for 
hard and tough kale when the fault is really that of the 
grower — who has left it too long before cutting. To 



FORCING 



73 



maintain a proper supply, that is a continuous supply, a 
weekly batch according to demand must be started. In 
a general way, it is good practice when a quantity is cut 
to replace it by a new lot so that there need be no 
break in the supply. 

Such places as mushroom houses, or under stages of 
intermediate houses, can be utilised, or indeed any places 
with the required temperature, but in large forcing 
establishments proper houses are devoted to this work. 
I will explain a few methods which I have adopted for 
utilising materials which would otherwise not be called 
into service for anything. 

It was my fortune some years ago to have charge of 
very large- plantations quite near an oak coppice. In the 
fall I had all the leaves collected into a large heap. 
This was levelled and well shaken up, a gentle and very 
lasting heat being thus secured. Some two light frames 
were placed in position and about four inches of rotten 
leaf mould put over the area of the frame. A quantity 
of seakale plants grown as described were then packed 
rather thickly in this frame and soil was banked up to 
the plants as they were placed in rows. When the 
frames were filled a gentle watering was given, the 
lights put on. Damaged hay was then put on the lights 
several inches thick, and a mat put over and fastened to 
keep all in place. I was careful to maintain a gentle 
heat which scarcely ever exceeded sixty degrees, and if 
it fell much below this a good banking of the neighbour- 
ing leaves, of which there were plenty, was made some- 
times as high as the frame, so that the sashes only could 
be discerned. From a batch put in at the beginning of 
December I cut at Christmas, whilst from some put in 
later the time required was less, and from a batch put in 
in the first week of February I have cut grand stuff by the 
end of the third week of that month. I never tasted better 
seakale than this proved to be. It is no easy matter to 



74 CULTURE OF SEAKALE 



force in this way when the days are shortening, but 
when they are lengthening it is a very different matter, 
indeed, one can reckon to the day when it will be fit to 
cut. These beds require but little water after the first 
is given, as evaporation is almost impossible, but should 
any be required tepid water is best. 

I know an excellent grower of seakale who has not 
leaves in such abundance as I have just mentioned, yet has a 
limited quantity. He has made thatched hurdles of various 
lengths according to requirements. He has a trench 
about three feet deep and six feet wide in which he puts 
about two-thirds leaves and one of stable manure, which 
have been well mixed up and turned three times during 
the previous fortnight. When it is put in this trench 
the mixture is lightly trodden, and as the heat rises it 
is again trodden. When the temperature is somewhat 
going off he puts on a little light soil and places his 
plants in the same way as I have already described in 
speaking of my frames. When this is finished he puts 
on the thatched hurdles, thus forming a span roofed 
structure, and as he has only four feet of the bed under 
cover there is a margin of a foot on either side. On 
this he puts about a foot in thickness of the heating 
material, and, the ends having been carefully matted up, 
he puts in trial sticks to ascertain the heat of the bed. If 
more heat is required he adds still more leaves to the 
sides, and I shall never forget when one morning I paid 
him a visit. I found him uncovering the bed to cut. 
The produce was about six inches high, and stout, 
and this from one year's growth. 

I have also used boxes, putting them in a cellar 
and filling them with a like mixture to that above 
described, keeping them perfectly dark, and I have had 
excellent results. I am sure that there are many such 
makeshift ways of growing good blanched kale other 
than that I have mentioned. I have often heard the 



FORCING 



75 



old-fashioned plan of forcing in the open under 
seakale-pots ridiculed, but I venture to say that when 
properly done the quality is superior to that given 
by any other method of forcing. The best quality of 
forced kale is found when leaves alone are used, and 
if possible no other material should be employed. My 
plan is as follows, when plenty of oak, beech, or such 
kind of leaves can be procured (chestnut, lime and 
sycamore are too soft and soon rot and become useless) : 
in the autumn, say about the first week in November, 
clear off the old leaves from the plants, slightly fork 
between them, fit on the pots and be sure the tops are 
perfect, so that the steam of the heating material does 
not enter- the pots. Then, as the leaves are collected, 
pile up between the pots, shaking the leaves up so that 
the bulk is evenly distributed, for if left in irregular 
lumps the heat will not be satisfactory. When enough 
have been brought just to cover the pots, lightly but 
evenly tread them down around the pots, and then put 
another layer and tread in the same way. When this 
work is finished and the pots are well hidden, put a few 
sticks in the bed reaching nearly or quite to the bottom. 
In a week's time draw out these sticks, which when felt 
should be a little warm. If a few days later the sticks are 
found to be hotter, go over once more and tread the leaves 
more firmly. This will hinder the heat from increas- 
ing, and the more slowly the heat increases the better. 
If a heat of sixty degrees can be maintained after the 
first fortnight kale can be cut at Christmas. Of course 
in a private garden only a portion at intervals should be 
so treated. Sometimes, when the weather is very cold, 
a covering of long litter is put over all to keep in the 
heat, and this will be also useful to prevent the leaves 
being blown about. I am aware that even with the 
advantage which many people have of obtaining leaves, 
this method is laborious and expensive. It is very much 



76 CULTURE OF SEAKALE 



cheaper to grow the plants annually as described, and 
to force by any of the several methods under glass. 

When much out-of-doors forcing is carried on it will 
be necessary to remove the heating material after the 
kale is cut. Personally I never clear quite all away but 
leave a slight covering, as the change would otherwise 
be great in frosty weather, seeing that the plants have 
been treated to an unnatural temperature. When all is 
cut over and the weather warmer, in the early part of 
May, the beds should be slightly forked over and left. 
Shortly growth will commence and generally many more 
buds will start than it is desirable to have. As seakale 
has a large thick leaf, if too many shoots are left all 
the buds are in consequence weak or small. Now, the 
larger these crowns are the larger is the kale in the 
following year. So that here, as in every case where a 
crowd of leaves is allowed, small shoots follow. There- 
fore the plants should be gone over and all weakly 
growths (especially the under onesj cut out, two or 
three of the strongest alone being left. Otherwise, 
when the plants attain an age of several years, the shoots 
will vary according to the number of crowns. 

I often see in old gardens very old plantations of 
seakale standing up in the winter like so many stems in 
a coppice, some a foot or more above the ground. If 
you examine such, you will find a good many crowns 
rotten where good ones should be. The reason of this 
excessive height is that when cutting, an inch or more 
of the old wood has not been cut, so that by degrees 
the plant has got higher and higher. The reason of the 
rotten crowns being where buds should be is that the 
plants have been allowed to flower, which is usual if 
plants be not well cut down. If these flowering stems 
are merely topped off, one of two things will follow — 
either a mass of small buds on a sappy stem, or the 
death of the flowering shoot and the rotting of the 



MARKETING 



77 



crown alluded to. Many people are afraid of cutting 
low, but I have had plants even twelve years old 
quite level with the ground ; when in the autumn the 
leaves are removed and the plants prepared for forcing, 
should there be late in the season a quantity of plants 
which cannot be forced in any way, they should, before 
growth commences, be covered up with coal ashes, sand, 
or light soil, over which should be placed straw or 
bracken fern, both being non-conductors of heat. This 
will prolong the season, as well as secure the kale from 
becoming purple, which a few hours' light (should the 
shoots break through) will effect, and one of the prin- 
cipal features in good kale is its whiteness. 

There are many places by the sea where it grows 
naturally just above high water mark. The inhabitants 
between Calshot Castle and Leap in Hampshire, in the 
autumn when the shoots died down, used to put shingle 
a foot or more in depth over the crowns, the kale thus 
becoming beautifully blanched in the spring. The pro- 
duce was taken to the Isle of Wight and Southampton. 
This practice no doubt is still carried on in the south of 
England, and there is no reason why such should not be 
anywhere carried out on the English coast where suitable 
and secure spots offer, and there are many such. 



Marketing 

When sent to the best markets, seakale is fastened to 
punnets and carefully protected by paper. I could never 
quite understand why punnets should be considered best. 
Would it not be better if kale were carefully wrapped 
in paper softly tied with raffia grass and packed like 
asparagus with soft material to prevent bruising r Since 
being in the west of England I have found no good 
examples of growing or packing. In fact, where these 



78 CULTURE OF SEAKALE 



operations should be carried out on a large scale they 
are most left alone. But there are indications that this 
will not long continue. 

Any good shop or salesman will take kale when good, 
and there is always a ready retail sale for good specimens. 



CULTURE OF CELERY 



Sowing the Seed 

Celery is a plant which has not become popular among 
all classes alike, and for this there is a substantial reason, 
for nowhere will edible celery grow unless it receives 
attention beyond that required by many other vegetables. 
It is a gross feeder and a gross drinker, and I never yet 
found land good enough to grow it without adding 
manure. It will in fact take any quantity in reason that 
may be offered it. I heard an old gardener once say the 
" wust of salary is that he's a glutton and a boozer," by 
which he meant that it requires high feeding all round. 

Its wants are many, if it is to be developed to its 
highest state of perfection. The seedlings must not be 
drawn up by forcing, and crowding in the seed beds is 
a nuisance. Indeed, no check whatever should be al- 
lowed, especially through the lack of water. There is 
an almost universal opinion that celery is not really good 
till it has had a frost on it. I remember a gentleman 
who told me that he never touched celery till it had been 
exposed to frost. Now in that particular year there was 
no frost till the end of November, but plenty of rain, 
and better celery than was found then I do not remem- 
ber. The secret is that celery requires a good deal of 
water, and the portion which is blanched in the dull 
days of autumn when there is a good deal of rain is of 
course better than when grown and brought to table in 
the months of September, October, and the first half of 

79 



8o CULTURE OF CELERY 



November. One certain thing is that the portion gener- 
ally eaten is usually below the reach of an ordinary 
frost, and, when it is not so, much well blanched celery 
is found rotten after a severe winter. Celery is not 
altogether a hardy plant when blanched, though it is so 




CELERY 

if not earthed up, but such is of no use except for 
flavouring soups. 

To grow celery, light soil is not the best, and, unless 
plenty of manure and water can be given, the crop grown 
on such will be unsatisfactory. I prefer a medium soil, 
not too light or too heavy, but if it be the latter a winter 



SOWING THE SEED 



81 



fallow must be the means of bringing it into good work- 
ing condition. 

Seed Sowing. — I like to make three sowings — in February, 
March and April. The March sowing will be the principal, 
but where very early celery is required a pan had better be 
sown in February. A light, rich soil made rather firm 
is best for this. Generally about three times too many 
plants come up in a given space, crowding each other in 
their infancy, so sow thinly, cover up with about one 
quarter inch of fine soil, and then water gently. I place 
slates over the top of the seed boxes or pans, in order to 
prevent evaporation as the seeds germinate slowly. I 
give a brisk heat of 70 to 75 deg. till the seeds 
begin to germinate, when I remove the slates and put 
on glass to admit more light. A high temperature will 
be fatal to the future career, as nothing short of good 
sturdy plants should be aimed at. The slate and glass 
are not necessary if seed pans are placed in the shade. 
When the plants have made a pair of rough leaves they 
should be pricked out into boxes, seed pans, or even into 
frames ; if the latter, heat must be afforded for a time if 
for early work. The soil into which they are pricked 
should be rich with plenty of well-rotted dung, and if a 
sprinkling of bonemeal be added so much the better. 
The soil into which celery is pricked out should be rich 
and firm, especially that used in the final transplanting 
before removing to the trenches ; if some well-rotted 
manure be placed under the young plants and made firm, 
then about three inches of good soil also made firm, and 
the plants put about three inches apart, these can be 
taken 'up with good balls of roots, which poor loose 
soil will never allow. This prevents the plants from 
flagging, and, when finally planted, they will start with- 
out a check, which is a most important matter. Many 
plants will not in the least be injured by a check when 
planted, but this is not so in the case of celery. We 

F 



82 CULTURE OF CELERY 



shall thus have plants in four different stages which 
will suffice from the earliest to the latest season. 

Some large market gardeners sow broadcast in a frame 
on rich soil made firm, the soil being not more than six 
inches from the glass. This is for the general crop 
when a large quantity is required. 

It will be well here to speak of varieties, of which 
there are many, and of which nearly every grower has 
his fancy. There are two distinct types, white and red, 
the white being the earlier. For many years I grew 
Sandringham White, a good sturdy kind, but in after 
years I grew Sutton's White Gem, a very early and partly 
self-blanching variety, and also their Solid White and 
Veitch's Superb White, and I prefer these to my old 
friend Sandringham. Major Clark's Solid Red and 
Fulham Prize are my favourite reds, and these will 
furnish any grower with all he requires, unless he 
wants exceedingly long celery (which I do not advise), 
and then he must look out for a " novelty," which 
perhaps will be coarse. I need not here remark that, as 
celery is an important crop requiring a good deal of care 
and labour, a few extra pence in buying the seed should 
not be considered, for, after all the time and labour has 
been bestowed, it will be worse than disappointment to 
-find that one has not a good strain. I have had a whole 
planting of the three varieties named, and not distinguished 
a spurious one in the whole lot. This is what should 
be, and is what I have generally had in all my seed 
crops. 

Every grower will be guided by his requirements as 
to how many plants should be grown, but, whether 
it be 50 or 50,000, it pays to give the plants our best 
attention. I will here give an outline of my practice 
with the March sown plants, as this is the principal 
crop. The seeds are sown thinly in boxes, and when 
all are well up, the boxes are removed to a light airy 



GENERAL TREATMENT 83 



place, where just a little heat is afforded. Soon after- 
wards they are transferred to cold frames and kept 
gradually moving till about the end of the first week of 
May, when on a well manured warm border made firm 
the plants are pricked out about two-and-a-half to three 
inches apart. When planted they are well sprinkled 
with water, and a few green rods are spanned over 
them, and also a few rods lengthways at right angles to 
these, a shading of thin material being placed over this 
framework to prevent flagging. At night a thicker 
covering is substituted, and the lighter shading replaced 
each morning for several days. The plants are then 
exposed to the sun all day, but covered up at night for 
a week longer if cold. In fact, as these rods are left on 
I cover them up occasionally till the 20th of May, when 
frosty nights are anticipated. I sometimes put them in 
cold frames if I have them to spare. In any case these 
plants by the middle of June are ideal ones for planting 
out. 

Planting and General Treatment 

Very few people can afford to put apart a large piece 
of ground for celery plantations in the spring, neither is 
it necessary, as a crop of many things can be taken off 
before celery need be planted. Celery can follow the 
Brussels sprouts and other winter greens, or the first lot 
of spring cabbage which was planted in the autumn, or 
late broccoli, or even early potatoes. 

There are several ways of planting — in single or 
double rows, or in beds ; and although many people 
will not hear of beds, I can only say that there is more 
to be urged in favour of beds than many give credit for. 
I mean by beds four rows altogether, the plants a foot 
apart in the row, and about fifteen inches from row to 
row, The advantages are threefold — less ground is 



84 CULTURE OF CELERY 



occupied, when properly earthed up the rain does not 
run off, and in hard weather dry leaves can be packed 
between all the plants even to the tops. A covering of 
mats can also be used if a support of some kind be 
placed over the bed. I have formed a span covering of 
rods, banking with dry ferns and litter. In some parts 
of England the frost will go through the ordinary single 
or double row, and I have on many occasions found a 
good deal of the crop rotten when the frost has gone. 
I do not say that very large celery can be grown in this 
way, but it is a plan worth adopting for late celery ; 
of course a bed of five feet wide must be made, the 
soil being thrown out about eight inches deep and plenty 
of manure being dug in. The single row, however, 
is the general plan, and good, well-rotted manure in 
abundance will be required in its making. 

Of Manures, — The kind which I prefer is a mixture of 
pigstye and farmyard dung, especially if there be a good 
proportion of horse droppings with it. Rank, strong 
manure cannot well be dug into the trenches, neither 
would it be well for the plants. Therefore spread out 
the manure, and over each cartload put about three 
pounds of salt, and a peck of soot with half a peck of 
lime. Then turn over well, mix, and form a heap. 
This should be done in the early spring or winter. 
The mixture when well rotted can be thrown open, and 
left so that if worms are in it birds may visit the heap. 
I have often mixed this in the winter, and in hard frosty 
weather thrown it open, when the birds have worked 
about it and cleared it of worms, which are most in- 
jurious. Indeed many a good lot has been disfigured 
by worms, and they should be guarded against in every 
way. This will be touched on again later. 

In digging out the trenches much will depend on the 
nature of the soil, also on its previous treatment. I 
have sometimes had to deal with stiff clay land, with 



GENERAL TREATMENT 85 



only nine or ten inches of good loam, and sometimes 
less. It is not well to trench such land as this, or much 
of the clay is brought to the surface. I like rather to 
break up such subsoil, and leave it where found with a 
good layer of dung on it, pulling the top soil on the top 
of it. For celery trenches on such soil I take out the top 
spit and place it at one side of the trench ; a small 
portion of the next spit is then thrown out and placed 
on the opposite side, after which a good deal of the 
top soil is put back to plant in, incorporating three or 
four inches of the manure. These trenches are sixteen 
inches wide, and when dug ready for the planting they 
are about four inches deep. I often see trenches ten 
inches deep, but no one can give the reason for such 
a depth. Sometimes my trenches after receiving the 
dung are nearly level with the ground surface. I never 
allow less than four feet from row to row, or, if double 
rows, five feet. I am aware that less space can be given, 
but much depends on the depth of soil and what is its 
nature. It would be really bad form to earth up at the 
last with a clayey soil, and one would have to do this in 
some cases where the rows are too near together. 

There is generally at the time of celery planting a 
- good deal of other work to which the gardener has to 
attend ; in fact, it really comes at his busiest season. 
Hence it is that drawn-up plants are so much in evi- 
dence. Now, if plenty of room be given to the young 
plants in the nursery beds, they will bear a little delay, 
but I like to get the principal lot out by the end of June. 
They will bear no stint of water at any time. The dis- 
tance which I give from plant to plant of Sutton's Gem 
is nine or ten inches, but with the later and stronger 
growers I allow a foot apart. Every plant is taken up 
carefully the day before planting, and I well water the 
plants to soaking point. A spade is put under the plants 
as in taking up a thick turf, a man taking up each plant 



86 CULTURE OF CELERY 



and putting it in a flat or flattish basket or on a hand- 
barrow, on which the plants are taken to the planters, 
who with trowels draw the soil forward to make the 
hole. Each plant with all its roots is placed well in, 
and a man or boy following with the water-pot gently 
waters. 

I like to plant as soon as a trench is ready, so that if 
it be sunny weather the soil does not become dry before 
planting. This may seem a small matter to some, but 
no one can plant anything properly in dusty soil. I have 
seen it advised that the plants be shaded with boughs. 
This is probably necessary when drawn-up plants are 
planted, for long watery leaves will flag, and when such 
go down they remain down for a considerable time if 
the weather is hot. Such plants simply are a reproach 
to the owner — -I would say grower, were it not absurd. 
I have also seen plants cropped off, I mean the leaves 
cut off, so that they should not flag. I need not 
comment on this. The reason for this again is that two 
plants had been grown where room was for one only. 
This vice of overcrowding is one ot the greatest in 
horticulture. 

Should the weather be dry, water must be given, but 
not necessarily often. "Whenever it is given, immediately 
cover up the watered soil with an inch or a little more 
of the dry soil ; this will prevent the sun from raising it 
and save much labour. The dry earth will shut in the 
moisture ; this hint applies to other plants as well. I 
have known many people carry the water-pots a long 
distance to water plants every night, whereas if one good 
soaking were given, and a little earth drawn up around 
the plant in order to prevent the sun drying up the water 
the next day, much labour would be saved. If when 
watering takes place an application of manure water be 
given occasionally, so much the better. If used too strong, 
however, this will encourage spongy and coarse growth, 



GENERAL TREATMENT 87 



and so spoil the quality. Some growers make this mis- 
take of over-feeding when size alone is aimed at, but 
the quality is spoiled thereby, for although celery will 
take a good deal of manure, discretion must be used. I 
have often seen this mistake made by amateurs who grow 
for exhibition, and think that all depends on the quantity 
of manure used. When the celery is brought to the 
exhibition table and cut through, a coarse spongy growth 
is all that remains. It must be understood, however, 
that I advocate generous treatment, but the difference 
between this and over-feeding is much the same as in 
rearing pork. 

Earthing up. — This must always be done on dry days, 
but previous to the first real earthing a thorough water- 
ing should be given, in fact a soaking if possible. A 
sprinkling of soot if available should follow, in order to 
prevent worms crawling up the plants. On the next day 
the earthing can be done. The plants must be examined 
and all suckers removed. I am assuming that the plants 
are very far advanced in growth, and that the several 
little lots of earth have been applied after each water- 
ing, so that the trenches will be level or nearly level 
with the surrounding soil. 

On the morning of earthing, break down sufficient soil, 
and make fairly fine, so that all will be ready when 
the earthing up is done. Two people at least should 
perform this operation, and if three can be spared so 
much the better. Many people tie up the plants with 
matting, and some put a paper band around them before 
earthing. I need not say that where a large quantity is 
grown for market or otherwise such is impracticable. 
Moreover, if the work be properly done, it is not neces- 
sary. The leaves should be gathered up and the soil 
carefully packed between the plants, not a particle being 
allowed to enter the heart, or even between the stalks. 
Do not bank up too high, but keep the hearts well above 



88 CULTURE OF CELERY 



the earthings up at all times. As we have a thirsty plant 
to deal with, this first earthing must not as in so many 
cases be high. I consider three earthings sufficient, the 
last not to be done till the end of October for the general 
or winter crop. Even then see that the earth does not 
get to the hearts, for many people, thinking to exclude 
frost, will recklessly cover the plants, so that the whole 
is nearly hidden under the soil. Should sharp weather 
occur, bracken fern is the best of all things to use, and 
earth on the top the worst. 

I will now deal with the exhibition lot. The same 
work will have to be done here as for the general crop ; 
but the plants, having been prepared earlier, will of 
course be put out earlier, and a little extra care be- 
stowed. The plants must have a little extra room, 
about fourteen inches from plant to plant being a good 
allowance. See that no worms are in the manure used, 
and of this an extra inch or so may be dug in rather 
deeply, because as all growth will have to be made in 
hot weather it will be well to encourage the roots to go 
down in search of food. The plants, being well pre- 
prepared, should by the middle of May be planted in 
these well-prepared trenches, which might also be a 
little deeper, say by two inches, than for the general 
crop. See that no suckers spring up, and remove 
early any which may appear. Each watering must be 
thorough, drawing over the surface the dry earth as 
before advised. Weak guano water can be used with 
excellent results. Place in a barrel or tub holding say 
thirty-six gallons, two pounds of guano, a gallon of 
soot, and a little lime, fill up with water, and stir. If 
the soot be put in a coarse bag and kept under, it will 
be much better than putting it in loose. In the space of 
a fortnight this mixture will be ready to use, and one- 
third of this to two of clean water will be strong 
enough. This might be used once a fortnight, a water- 



GENERAL TREATMENT 89 



ing of clear water should the weather be dry being 
given between, so that the total waterings will be given 
once a week. Should this be done properly, and no 
check have been previously suffered, these early plants 
will grow freely and not run up to flower stems, as so 
frequently happens to all early-raised biennials. 

For these exhibition plants I advocate paper bands or 
celery collars, but not till the plants are well grown and 
the first good earthing given. The soil for this lot, if it 
can be obtained, should be of a light sandy nature, for the 
more it borders on clay the more undesirable it is. Cut 
slips of brown paper, and lightly bandaging with them 
not too high up, tie loosely with matting or raffia grass. 
Then carefully earth up to the height of the paper, 
pressing the soil firmly around each plant. In three weeks 
from the first the second earthing can be given, and this 
time another strip of paper and raffia grass applied, so as 
just to hold the leaves together. With a rather bluntly- 
pointed old rake, hoe, or broom handle make holes 
diagonally a few inches deep near the base of the trench, 
and into these holes pour some water, but be sure not to 
water over the tops of the plants. After this trench- 
watering throw some earth over it, and bank it to the 
-sides where the holes were made. If this is done well 
no other watering will be needed. When the plants are 
well blanched, which will be about a month after the 
last earthing, they may be dug up as required, though 
even this requires great care. Remove the soil well 
away at one end, and carefully with a spade (not a fork) 
raise each plant. Take the plants to the shed, or some- 
where where they can be kept from the sun, and till the 
morning of the show do not remove a leaf or outer 
stalk, and the roots must not be over-trimmed till then. 
Should it be necessary to wash the celery, though I 
think it best never to do so when thus grown, carefully 
remove just an outside stalk or so, then with a soft 



CULTURE OF CELERY 



brush and a pail of clean water, holding the plant upside 
down, gently wash it. Then dip the top in another 
pail of clean water, to wash off what dirt has rinsed 
down, afterwards laying it carefully on a clean bench. 
Celery should be judged by cutting down the middle, 
so that the quality can be discerned, though if three or 
even two sticks are shown, one only of each exhibit 
need be cut. Do not over-trim either for exhibition or 
market. In the matter of roots or plants of any kind, 
I always prefer the soil left on rather than washed off. 
Vegetables always keep fresh for a longer time when not 
previously washed. Of course, for exhibition the ap- 
pearance of the washed roots is preferred. 

Very late celery is sometimes required, especially for 
soups, for which it is indispensable. This, if sown out- 
of-doors in April and planted out at the end of July, 
will require but little earthing. It is then invari- 
ably quite hardy, and can be planted about three feet 
apart in trenches not necessarily as rich as those already 
described. Cooks require celery all the year round for 
soups, and when in the spring, by the middle of April, 
it is found growing up, it can be lifted and packed under 
a north wall or in a cool open shed, soil being well 
packed around it. This will carry the gardener on till 
he can afford to supply young strong plants for flavour- 
ing. Cooks never cease to ask for celery, and will not 
hear of anything they require being " out of season." 



Insect Pests 

Celery is sometimes visited by a most destructive 
insect called Tephrites Onopordifiis, which visits the plants 
when very young, and does a great deal of mischief. 
The eggs are deposited on the leaf, and the larva finds 
its way into the leaf's substance, and thus secretes itself, 



INSECT PESTS 



9 l 



so that no outward application can reach it. The 
blister-like blotches which result may be pinched off 
and burnt or thrown to the pigs. But the only real 
remedy that I know is to sprinkle or dust with very 
fine dry soot and lime, two of the former to one of 
lime, once a week at least, early in the morning, when 
the dew is on the leaf. This, which is to be applied 
when the plants are first pricked out, will make them 
obnoxious to the insect, for I am much inclined to think 
that it is enticed somewhat by the odour of the plant, as 
happens in the case of parsnips and parsley, which 
are not unlike in this respect. Even when the celery 
is finally planted out, the same dusting once a week 
till the middle of July will be beneficial if done lightly. 

The slug is another enemy, especially to the young 
plants, so that in raising or planting out always avoid 
proximity to a spot which harbours them, such as box- 
edging or hedges of any kind. 



CULTURE OF CELERIAC 



Of celeriac, commonly called turnip-rooted celery, there 
are several varieties, such as the Smooth Paris Celeriac, 
Early Erfurt, a rather small kind, and Prague Celeriac, 
the latter being a larger variety of the smooth Paris, 
but the varieties or variety which any good seedsmen 
sell will generally suffice. 

Here it is the root only which is used. I consider it 
strange that a vegetable of this class is so little known, 
especially as in the winter vegetables are not too 
numerous ; yet it is easily grown if sown and treated 
as other kinds of celery, and afterwards planted out in 
rich soil. 

March is the proper time to sow, and a box a foot 
long and nine inches wide will raise a thousand plants. 
Prick out and treat as instructed for March-sown celery, 
then, on well prepared and heavily manured ground, 
plant in rows eighteen inches by fifteen, the ground 
having been previously made firm, for it is, like most 
other bulbous plants, at home in firm soil. Some 
growers give even more room, say two feet by one- 
and-a-half feet. Celeriac will thrive best on soil not too 
stiff, in fact, a soil of a sandy nature firmly made is best, 
as the bulbs are always finest when standing, like onions, 
well out of the ground. No earthing up will be re- 
quired \ in fact this would in a measure spoil the plants. 
Frequent hoeing is necessary, and one must be careful 
that the soil is not drawn to the bulbs but kept clear 
away. When any shoots or laterals form they may be 
92 



CULTURE OF CELERIAC 



removed, though I am not clear as to any great advantage 
being gained thereby, yet if I detect them when planting 
out they are removed. If planted very shallow, the hoe 
being frequently used, a good crop is generally pro- 
cured. If the summer is very dry, a good soaking of 
water will be beneficial, as celeriac, like celery, delights 
in moisture. The roots when liberally grown are of 




CELERIAC 

finer quality than when stunted by being grown under 
unfavourable conditions. 

When fully grown, before winter or frost sets in, it 
is well to take up a large quantity of roots and store 
them, as is done with beetroots. They are not really 
hardy, but in mild winters they can be left in the ground 
till February, especially if soil be drawn over the roots. 
Still, like all biennials such as turnips, parsnips, beet, 



94 CULTURE OF CELERIAC 



etc., when fresh growths commence in the spring, a 
deterioration will certainly ensue, if the roots be left in 
the ground ; so they must not be left too long, but be 
packed away in a very cool place in sand or sandy soil. 
Some people recommend coal ashes, but I do not use 
them for roots of any kind. Dry leaf mould I prefer to 
ashes, but sand is best of all. The secret of keeping 
such things in order to lengthen the season is to exclude 
heat and air. 

I remember that once by accident I had a cart-load 
of white field turnips put down in a heap early in the 
winter. The next day some excavations were made, 
and for convenience several tons of soil were thrown 
on the turnips. I discovered this when too late, so I 
had more turnips brought from the field to replace them. 
In the following April this soil was carted away, and 
when we came upon the buried turnips they were fresh, 
firm, and as good as when carted there, whereas all in 
the fields were grown out and spongy. This taught me 
a lesson in preserving roots. I saw that when the air 
was excluded not the least growth was made by roots 
or tops. I do not say that so large bulks should be 
always thus covered, yet such might be advisable for 
all I know to the contrary. Since then I have in like 
manner preserved beet, celeriac, and such like roots till 
new ones are wanted. 



CULTURE OF SALSIFY 



Salsify or vegetable oyster is a vegetable which ought 
to be more grown, and even where it is cultivated should 
generally be better grown. All soils 
do not suit it alike ; in fact, to grow 
it well is not always an easy matter, 
for so much depends on the ground 
available. A deep sandy rich soil is 
best. To manure stiff soil and 
expect good straight roots will end 
in failure. If the soil be poor, do 
not mix dung with it, or the roots 
will branch in all directions and will 
become useless. Rather put the 
dung ten inches deep, so that when 
the roots reach as far they can be 
fed by it. I prefer using a slight 
sprinkling of guano and super-phos- 
.phate well worked in previous to 
sowing. Sow on well dug ground 
made fairly firm as for parsnips, and 
draw drills about the same depth — 
that is, one to two inches — the drills 
being a foot or fifteen inches apart. 
When the plants are up, thin to 
five or six inches apart, hoe well, 
and keep clean. Nothing more will 
be necessary in order to obtain good 
roots, straight and without rootlets. 

Only a few weeks ago I was in a garden where was a 
large bed of salsify. The owner was not satisfied with 

95 




BUNDLE OF SALSIFY 



96 CULTURE OF SALSIFY 

the plants, and told me that he had changed his seeds- 
man, because his salsify was so poor and straggling. 




SALSIFY ROOTS 

I examined the bed, and counted eight plants to the foot 
run. I turned to the other side of the bed where broc- 
coli was planted, and found them about a foot apart from 



CULTURE OF SALSIFY 97 



row to row and less in the rows. They were about 
three feet high, so I said, " Your broccoli is also a fail- 
ure." " Yes," he said ; " no more seed from Messrs So- 
and-So." I said, " Are you not blaming your seedsman 
for your own ignorance?" He said, "Well, my 
gardener is of the same opinion as myself." I asked to 
see the gardener. He replied that he had not one now, 
but wanted one. I replied, " Yes, you certainly do want 
one, as it seems to me you have not had one lately." 
I then told him what I thought, and wondered how 
often our nurserymen and seedsmen are blamed for our 
incompetency. 

I consider that salsify cooks better when raised from 
the ground as required, in the same way as parsnips. But 
when growths commence the roots should be taken up 
and stored away, for new growths mean pithy and tough 
substance which will neither cook well nor look well 
when served up. 



G 



CULTURE OF SCORZONERA 



Scorzonera is a native 




BUNDLE OF SCORZONERA 



f Spain, and is probably less 
known than any other vege- 
table dealt with in this book. 
It is much like salsify, the 
roots being the part eaten, 
differing in appearance from 
salsify, however, in being 
somewhat darker. It is a 
perennial, but it is scarcely 
ever used as such, being 
treated as an annual or biennial 
much as carrots, and parsnips 
are treated. There is, how- 
ever, a variety which is an 
annual, Scorzonera picroides. 
This is a native of the south 
of Europe. 

The culture of scorzonera 
is identical with salsify, but 
hispanka being a perennial can 
remain in the ground over 
the year without losing its 
quality by so doing, though 
the size of the roots in- 
creases. 



\ 



HISTORIC AND CULINARY 



" Chou marin sauvage d' ' Angleterre" was the term used 
by Valmount de Boman to describe the seakale, and it is 
a curious fact that though this delicious vegetable has 
been for so long cultivated in England it has never suc- 
ceeded in establishing a real footing across the Channel, 
in spite of numerous attempts to introduce it from the 
time of L'Obel, about 1810, onwards. One may search 
the pages of the French cookery books, even the 
book of Gouffe himself, in vain for any reference to 
this delightful vegetable. Yet, when properly grown 
and properly cooked, it perforce appeals to the most 
fastidious palate, so that when a French cook such as 
Ude settles in England before compiling his text-book, 
he too falls under the spell and is bound to recognise 
the plant's virtue. 

It is a native of England, and long before it was 
cultivated in gardens was known and appreciated by the 
natives of those parts of our coast where it grows. 
They cut off the young shoots as much as possible 
below the surface of the ground, thus obtaining the 
flavour peculiar to the blanched condition. In the large 
two volume work in folio entitled " A Complete Body 
of Planting and Gardening," by the Rev. William 
Hanbury, published in 1 770, a short section is devoted 
to the plant. "The Sea Colewort," he says, "is now 
preferred by many as an esculent to most of the spring 
productions. It has not been many years introduced into 
the garden for kitchen use, but has been long known 
to the inhabitants who live near the sea, where the plant 
grows naturally, and who gather it in the spring as soon 



ioo HISTORIC AND CULINARY 



as ever, or before, it comes up; which they know by 
the rising of the sand which the shoots occasion, as they 
are ready to appear ; and being cut so early even within 
the ground, they are of a more delicate sweetness, which 
they lose by degrees, and become tough after they have 
been exposed to the open air." 

It was stated in " Notes and Queries" that seakale 
was first sent to the London market about 1710 by the 
Rev. John Freman, vicar of Sidbury; but that the 
vegetable failed to take hold is obvious from Curtis's 
statement a hundred years later, "that attempts had 
been made at various times to introduce seakale into the 
London markets, but ineffectually." From the time of 
Curtis onwards, however, seakale has steadily grown 
in popularity in England. In France it is even yet but 
little grown, though more so than when Ude wrote in 
his "French Cook" that "this plant is not known in 
France." 

In America also it is not so well known as one would 
expect, and we may examine many of the standard 
American books on cookery without finding its name. 
Seakale, although with an utterly dissimilar flavour, may 
be cooked much in the same way as asparagus. Only 
just so much of the main stump should be left as will 
suffice to hold neat little bundles together. These 
should be placed into boiling salted water and boiled for 
about twenty to thirty minutes until the fork test proves 
their tenderness. The seakale should then be served 
on dry toast, a vegetable-dish with drainer, or a napkin, 
as recommended for asparagus. Any of the sauces, 
moreover, named as suitable to be served with asparagus 
are equally suitable to be served with seakale — in either 
case, of course, in a sauce-boat and not poured over the 
vegetable. As is the case with asparagus, it is as a 
plain vegetable with or without sauce, that seakale 
really shines ; but there are many other ways in which 



HISTORIC AND CULINARY 101 



it may appear on the table without breach of artistic 
decency. It may indeed be used instead of asparagus 
in -any of the recipes previously given. 

Seahale au Jus 

consists of seakale boiled as directed for fifteen minutes 
only, then put into a stewpan with a sufficiency of gravy 
to cover it, and stewed till tender. Place the seakale 
on a dish, thicken and flavour the gravy with a little 
flour, butter, pepper, salt, and lemon or tarragon 
vinegar, pour it over the vegetable and serve. 
Those who like that sort of thing may enjoy 

Seakale in Cream, 

that is seakale boiled as directed, and served covered 
with white sauce, into which a small cupful of cream 
has been stirred at the last. 
To make 

Seahale Soup, 

take a dozen heads of white seakale, cut into inch 
' engths, and place with two ounces of butter in an 
enamelled pan. Heat carefully for a few minutes, 
shaking the while. Then add a sliced potato, a sliced 
onion, a teaspoonful of salt, a little pepper, a little 
grated nutmeg, a pint of water, and half a pint of milk. 
Boil for an hour. Then rub the whole through a wire 
sieve, boil up again, add two tablespoonfuls of cream, 
and serve with toast. 

As a salad, cold boiled seakale should be treated in 
the same way as advised for asparagus. 

Scorzonera is one of those vegetables which were 
once more frequently grown in our gardens than is the 
case at the present day. The plant grows abundantly 



102 HISTORIC AND CULINARY 

in the wild state in Spain and less frequently in the 
south of Germany and France. It first attained notoriety 
on account of its alleged virtue as an antidote to snake's 
bite — hence the popular interpretation of its etymology 
— the word being thought to be derived from escorso, a 
snake — the fact of course being that it owes its name to 
the colour of its root. It seems to have been introduced 
into England about the end of the sixteenth century, 
though it was probably cultivated at first more for its 
supposed medicinal properties than as a pleasant addition 
to the table. 

About the beginning of the seventeenth century it 
was evidently known as a delicious edible, and is 
referred to in " Le Jardinier Francois," published in 
1616. From the middle of the seventeenth century 
onwards, recipes for its cooking are to be found in most 
of the better French, American, and English cookery 
books, though in France it has never been a popular 
vegetable in the sense that the more delicate salsify is 
popular. 

In Hay's translation of Lemery's " Treatise of Foods," 
to which reference has been already made, both these 
plants are classed together as "saxifrage," of which the 
author says : " There are two Sorts used for Food 5 the 
first is a Root of a Kind of Goat's-beard, and the other 
of Scorsonnere, commonly called the Saxifrage of Spain." 
The latter, he says, has "a more agreeable Taste than 
the other, probably because it is endu'd with some more 
volatile and exalted Principles." 

Salsify, like scorzonera, is much less grown in Eng- 
land than was once the case. Evelyn refers to the 
common yellow goat's-beard as "an excellent salet 
root," and Parkinson also mentions it as a cultivated 
vegetable. The salsify, or purple goat's-beard, also occurs 
wild in England, but it is certain that such plants are 
merely escapes from gardens. Both species close their 



HISTORIC AND CULINARY 



flowers early and have thus earned the nickname, " John- 
go-to-bed-at-noon." Johns, in his " Flowers of the 
Field" (1889 edition), says that salsify "was formerly 
much cultivated for the sake of its fleshy tapering roots, 
which were boiled or stewed and eaten. Its place is 
now supplied by Scorzonera Hispanica ; but directions for 
its culture are still given in most gardeners' calendars." 

Salsify and scorzonera are cooked one much as the 
other. The latter, however, should not be scraped 
before being boiled, but should be peeled after being 
cooked. To boil salsify, a dozen roots should be first 
well washed and scraped and at once put into a basin 
of cold water with an egg-cupful of vinegar in it. In 
five minutes place the roots in an enamelled stewpan 
containing a boiling mixture of half a pint of water, 
quarter of a pint of milk, two slices of lemon, a little 
salt and half an ounce of butter. Boil until quite tender, 
which will usually be in about an hour's time or a little 
more. Take out the salsify and well drain it. It may 
be served whole, melted butter, beurre fondu, or sauce 
Hollandaise accompanying it in a sauce-boat. Or the 
boiled roots may be cut into inch lengths, and a layer 
of them placed at the bottom of a fireproof pan, seasoned 
with pepper and salt, and covered with a little bechamel 
sauce, this arrangement of layers being repeated till the 
pan is full. Over all sprinkle grated Cheshire, Cheddar 
or Parmesan, and having covered it with very small 
pieces of butter, heat for a few minutes in the oven. 

Salsify in Scallop Shells 

Boil as directed, then mash and warm the boiled roots 
in a pan with a little cream and lemon juice, shaking 
the while. Fill scallop shells with this, sprinkle with 
bread crumbs and a little grated cheese, and, having 
heated in the oven for a few minutes, serve. If liked, 



HISTORIC AND CULINARY 



a teaspoonful of anchovy sauce may be added to the 
mixture before putting it in the scallop shells. 

Salsify and Eggs 

Boil, mash and then season a dozen roots with an 
ounce of butter and a little salt and pepper. Into a cup 
of cream incorporate a cup of bread crumbs and a well- 
beaten egg. Mix this with the salsify and, having 
covered with small pieces of butter, bake in the oven. 
Serve with a cut lemon. Instead of being baked, the 
mixture may be made into little cakes, dredged with 
flour, and fried. 

Hanbury, in the book previously referred to, says : 
" There are various ways of dressing the roots of 
Salsify, though the most common method is to boil 
them first, and then slice and fry them with flour and 
water." The proper way to fry them — and it is perhaps 
the best method of cooking them — is as follows : — Boil 
the salsify as directed and cut into inch lengths, which 
dip in the following batter and fry a nice brown. Mrs 
Roundell advises that grated cheese be dusted over the 
fried slices. The batter may be made by thoroughly 
mixing into a paste quarter of a pint of water, quarter 
of a pound of flour, half a saltspoonful of salt, two 
tablespoonfuls of salad oil and the yolks of two eggs, 
adding the thoroughly-beaten whites of two eggs. 

In all the above recipes scorzonera may be used 
instead of salsify. Salsify and scorzonera may be wisely 
used to make soups much in the way advised for seakale. 
The cold boiled roots also make very pleasant salads. 
Boil the roots as directed, dry, cut them into inch 
lengths, allow them to become cold, and then pour over 
them oil, vinegar, a little tarragon vinegar, pepper and 
salt, and thoroughly shake as previously directed for 
making asparagus salad. Any of these cooked vege- 
tables may be served in aspic if desired. 



HISTORIC AND CULINARY 105 

Celery 

Celery is a native plant occurring wild in moist places, 
usually by the sea. It has long been known in its wild 
state, and is referred to by Homer. Pliny described a 
cultivated variety, and ever since that time the gardeners 
of most European countries have devoted considerable 
skill and attention to the culture of celery and to the 
raising of new varieties. It is included in the list of 
vegetables named in the report of the survey of the 
monastery of St Gall made in the year 873, and nearly 
every English work on gardening gives directions for 
the proper growing and blanching of the plant. 

Celery is known and used in England chiefly in a raw 
state, as an accompaniment to cheese, and certainly that 
is one of the most useful and pleasant ways of eating it. 
For this purpose take some heads of fresh blanched 
celery, cut off the green parts and the outside leaves, 
and also remove the stalk ends, wash in cold water, and 
serve in a celery glass. Or the raw celery may be cut 
into thin slices, the delicate leaflets being reserved as a 
decoration for the top, and placed in a salad bowl — 
either alone or mixed with slices of cold cooked beet- 
root, or with split filberts or walnuts, — a salad dressing, 
as advised for asparagus salad, being poured over the 
celery immediately before serving. Do not shake this 
salad, or the crispness of the celery will be lost. It 
may be garnished with celery tops, cress, or lettuce 
leaves. To 

Boil Celery, 

take six or eight heads of fresh celery, remove the outside 
leaves and the green parts, and neatly trim the main 
stalk. Cut to a uniform length of about six inches, 
well w r ash in cold water, tie in neat little bundles, 
plunge them into a saucepan of boiling salted water, and 
boil until tender. Serve as advised for seakale. 



io6 HISTORIC AND CULINARY 



Celery au Jus 

is prepared in a similar way, but the celery is removed 
from the boiling water at the end of ten minutes and 
carefully drained. It is then placed in a stewpan with a 
little fat or oil (quarter of a pint to six heads of celery), 
tossed over the fire for a few minutes, when are to be 
added a pint to a pint-and-half of stock, sweet herbs, a 
carrot, a tomato, a small onion, and a little pepper and 
salt. Stew for an hour and a half. Place the celery 
neatly on a dish, and having strained the sauce (thicken- 
ing it if desired), pour it over the celery, and serve. 

Celery is well adapted (as might have been expected) 
to be cooked with cheese, after the manner of the cor- 
responding dishes suggested for asparagus and salsify. 

A pleasant dish also may be made by cooking some 
celery as directed for Celery au Jus, then mixing half of 
it, together with the tomato, herbs, etc., with a quarter 
of its bulk of cream, and passing this through a wire 
sieve ; the remainder of the celery being dipped into 
well-beaten eggs and then into bread crumbs, and fried 
in oil or other fat. These fritters having been drained, 
are to be placed round a dish, and the puree poured in 
the centre. In her recipe for Fried Celery, Mrs Glasse 
suggests dipping the pieces before frying them into a 
batter composed of " half a pint of white wine, the 
yolks of three eggs beat fine, and a little salt and nut- 
meg ; mix all well together with flour into a batter." 
This certainly yields a pleasant flavour. Mrs Glasse's 
recipe for 

Celery with Cream 

also gives a satisfactory result. " Wash and clean six or 
eight heads of celery, cut them about three inches long, 
boil them tender, pour away all the water, and take the 



HISTORIC AND CULINARY 107 



yolks of four eggs beat fine, half a pint of cream, a little 
salt and nutmeg, pour it over, keeping the pan shaking 
all the while. When it begins to be thick, dish it up." 
As a flavouring for soups and other dishes celery is 
thoroughly appreciated, but the old warning of " La 
Cuisiniere Bourgeoise " must be borne in mind: — " il en 
fait tres-peu, parce que le gout en est fort et domine sur 
tous les autres legumes." In " Les Dous de Cornus," 
the following recipe is given for a Ragout de cellery : — 
" Vous l'epluchez et ne mettez que les coeurs longs 
comme le doight. Etant blanchi, vous les faites cuire 
dans de bon bouillon. Apres l'avoir fait egoutter, vous le 
mettez dans une casserole avec du blond de veau, et le 
faites mij otter afin qu'il prenne gout. Ensuite vous le 
servez avec ce que vous jugez a propos." 
An excellent 

Celery Soup 

may be made as follows : — In an enamelled stew-pan 
place an ounce or two of butter. Heat in this for a few 
minutes four heads of celery, cleaned and selected as 
previously directed and cut into small slices, and a sliced 
. onion or tomato. Before the celery has begun to brown 
add a pint-and-a-half of water or stock and a little pepper, 
salt and nutmeg. Boil for an hour and a half. Pass 
through a wire sieve and pour over it a quart or three 
pints of milk and a little cream (up to half a pint). 
Mix and serve. 

Celeriac roots cut into slices may replace celery stems 
in any of the recipes given above. 

It will be noticed that of the six vegetables here dealt 
with all are more or less interchangeable from a cookery 
point of view. It is for each individual to determine for 
himself the particular combinations in which each vegetable 
more especially shines according to his own likings and 



io8 HISTORIC AND CULINARY 



dislikings. "Chacunason gout" holds good ingastronomic 
matters, and it is to be regretted that, in this machine- 
made age of uniformity, all individuality in the noble art 
of eating has seemingly been swamped in the deluge of 
convention and " cumeelfo." Of one thing we may be 
sure, which is that the cooking of vegetables can never 
rise to the artistic pitch which it merits until we adopt 
the plan of serving them as a separate course, and so 
considering them on their own merits. As it is, we mostly 
regard them but as adjuncts to meat or game, and thus 
it is that all the skill of the cook and the criticism of the 
gourmand are reserved for the dish of meat or game, 
with the most dire results from the point of view of 
those who realise the infinite virtues which are contained 
in the properly prepared herbs of the garden of man. 



Handbooks of Practical 



Crown 8vo. Illustrated. Cloth, 2s. 6d. net. 



The folloiving Volumes will be published during tlie 



Vol. I.— THE BOOK OF ASPARAGUS. With 
sections also on Celery, Salsify, Scorzonera, and 
Seakale; together with a chapter on their cooking 
and preparation for the table. By Charles i 
Ilott, F.R.H.S., Lecturer on Horticulture to 
the Cornwall County Council. 

Vol. II.— THE BOOK OF THE GREEN- 
HOUSE. With a special chapter on the little 
Town Greenhouse. By J. C. Tallack, F.R.H.S., 
Head Gardener at Shipley Hall. 

Vol. III.— THE BOOK OF THE GRAPE. By 
H. W. Ward, F.R.H.S., for 25 years Head 
Gardener at Longford Castle; Author of "My 
Gardener.' , 

Vol. IV.— THE BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED 
FLOWERS. By Harry Roberts, Author of 
" The Chronicle of a Cornish Garden." 




Under the General Editorship of 



HARRY ROBERTS 



Spring:- 



Othet Volumes in preparation. 



TATT ]\j y A NTT?. LONDON : VIGO STREET, \V. 

J v^rm i^/iiN rL : new york: 251 fifth avenue. 



BOOKS FOR COUNTRY HOUSES 



The Natural History of Selborne. By 

Gilbert White. Edited, with Introduction, by 
Grant Allen. With upwards of 200 Illustra- 
tions by Edmund H. New. Fcap. 4to. Price 
2 is. net. 

"The most delightful form that can be imagined. The attraction lies 
chiefly in finding the masterpiece so admirably illustrated by Mr Edmund 
H. New. In black and white line work of this class he has no equal." 
{Country Life.) 

"We have never seen this book in a more agreeable or appropriate 
form." (St James s Gazette ) 

" Mr Edmund New's drawings are not merely artistic, but full of the 
poetry of association." (Speaker.') 



The Compleat Angler. By Izaak Walton 
and Charles Cotton. Edited, with an Introduc- 
tion, by Richard Le GallIenne. With Photo- 
gravure Portraits of Walton and Cotton, and over 
250 Illustrations and Cover designed by Edmund 
H. New. Fcap. 4to. Price 15s. net. 

" A delightful edition, charmingly illustrated." (Punch.) 

"Of Mr Edmund H. New's illustrations we cannot speak too highly. 
We have never seen better." (Spectator.) 

" One of the best editions; one, we cannot help thinking, that Walton 
himself would have preferred." (Daily Chronicle.) 



All About Dogs. A Book for Doggy People. 
By Charles Henry Lane. With 85 Full-page 
Illustrations (including nearly 70 champions) by 
R. H. Moore. Gilt top. Demy 8vo. Price 
7s. 6d. net. 

"One of the most interesting contributions to the literature of the day." 
(Daily Chronicle.) 

"Mr Lane's book is worthy of a place on the shelves of any sporting 
library." (Outlook.) 

"A most interesting, indeed, an entirely fascinating book." (St James's 
Gazette.) 



ORDER FROM YOUR BOOKSELLER 



BOOKS ABOUT GARDENS 



Seven Gardens and a Palace. By 

"E. V. B.," Author of " Days and Hours in 

a Garden." Illustrated by F. L. B. Griggs 

and Arthur Gordon. Crown 8vo. Price 5s. 

net. Third Edition. 



The Chronicle of a Cornish Garden. 

By Harry Roberts. With Seven ideal Illus- 
trations by F. L. B. Griggs. Crown 8vo. 
Price 5s. net. 



Of Gardens : An Essay. By Francis 

Bacon. With an Introduction by Helen 
Milman and a Cover Design and Frontispiece 
by Edmund N. New. Demy i6mo. Price 
2s. 6d net. 



A Garden in the Suburbs. By Mrs 

Leslie Williams. With Eight Illustrations. 
Crown 8vo. Price 5s. net. 



Stray Leaves from a Border Garden. 

By Mrs Milne-Home, With Eight Illustrations 
by F. L. B. Griggs. Crown 8vo. Price 6s. net. 



My Vicarage Garden. By Canon Ella- 

combe, Author of " In a Gloucestershire 
Garden," &c. With Illustrations by F. L. 
B. Griggs. Crown 8vo. Price 5s. net. 

In preparation. 



fATTM T A MT7 • LONDON : VIGO STREET, W. 
J IN LrrilN H, . NEW YORK : 251 FIFTH AVENUE. 



BOOKS ABOUT GARDENS 



In the Garden of Peace. By Helen Milman 
(Mrs Caldwell Crofton). With 24 Illustrations and 
Cover designed by Edmund H. New. Crown 8vo. 
Price 5s. net. Third Edition. 

11 Sincerity is the note of the whole book." {Glebe.) 



Outside the Garden. By Helen Milman (Mrs 
Caldwell Crofton). With 24 Illustrations and Cover 
by Edmund H. New. Crown 8vo. Price 5s. net. 

" 'Outside the Garden' fully maintains Mrs Crofton's reputation as one 
of Nature's keenest observers." ( Daily Chronicle.) 



My Roses and How I Grew Them. By 

Helen Milman (Mrs Caldwell Crofton). W T ith a 
Cover designed by Edmund H. New. Crown 8vo. 
Price is. 6d. net. Third Edition. 

"Pleasantly written. . . . The book is such that a novice might 
implicitly follow, while the more experienced may find useful hints."' 

{Garden.') 



Flowers and Gardens. By Forbes Watson. 
With Photogravure Portrait of the Author. Edited, 
with a Biographical Note by Canon Ellacombe. 
Crown 8vo. Price 5s. net. 



Garden-Craft Old and New. By John d. 

Sedding. W r ith a Memorial Notice by the Rev. 
E. F. Russell, and nine full-page Illustrations. 
New Edition. Demy 8vo, gilt top. Price 7s. 6d. net. 



The Birds of My Parish. By E. H. pollard. 

With Collotype Illustrations. Crown 8vo. Price 
5s. net. 

" Evelyn Pollard has a very delightful style of writing, and the story of 
the Birds of her Parish is charming."' {Shooting Times.) 



ORDER FROM YOUR BOOKSELLER 



JUN ! 6 1902 



r 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



000CH2AAb4fl 



